


Magical Girl Usami

by Nivek01



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, And More angsty young adults, F/M, Like Batman, More Relationships to be Tagged, Only less angsty middle-aged men, Romance, as they become relevant, more characters to be tagged - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2016-12-02
Packaged: 2018-08-22 14:30:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 48,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8289101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nivek01/pseuds/Nivek01
Summary: Hope's Peak: a unique and powerful metropolis, which plays host to the greatest minds of the country and garners international attention. The city is full of dangers, but protecting the kind and lawful citizens is the sparkling vigilante, Magical Girl Usami!  Follow her adventures as she works with the best and brightest to fight crime, oppose her nemesis, and struggle with the shifting lines of friend, foe, and secret identities.





	1. The First Thread of Fate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two crime fighters investigate a lead on the worst villain in Hope's Peak.

Deep in a purple ocean, the corpse of a mutant bear floated. It was large, twisted, bipedal, lacked a snout, and its head was round. The corpse was charred and fragmented, a mass of dead black tissue. A section of the head was caved in, and one eye socket had been twisted into a jagged curve. Inside that curve, a red light stared deeper into the abyss. Bubbles slipped from between its broken teeth, and with them a chuckle.

"Of all the things that could have gotten in your way, I bet you never would have guessed a rabbit would interfere..." 

The chuckles turned to a mad cackle, and the corpse of the bear dissolved into ash.

* * *

The rooftop of the old office building was damp, dark, and cold. So late at night, the autumn wind carried a slight chill that blew away whatever shreds of warmth it came across. The woman who stood on the roof gave no reaction to the cold that tugged at her suit and long lavender hair, her entire focus on the purple crystal that glowed in her hand. After a time the glow faded, and the woman spoke to the darkness. “I trust nothing too terrible has assaulted you this evening, Usami?”  


A voice rose up from behind the woman. Despite becoming no louder than a whisper, it echoed around the rooftop. “No, no, I’m fine. But Kiri, are you sure you don’t have super senses? I can never catch you by surprise.”  


Kyoko turned around. The person stood less than three strides away. They were dressed in a white dress and stockings, with a pink frilled skirt, shoulder pads, and breastplate. A choker encircled her neck with a red jewel and two outstretched wings as its centerpiece, which matched the ethereal wings that came out of her back. A rabbit mask covered the top half of her face, and a pink bow was tied in her glowing hair next to her temple. She wielded a staff with two hearts in an hourglass shape at its tip.  


“Remaining aware of my surroundings is a given, not something that should come as a surprise,” Kyoko said.  


Usami smiled. “Humble and vigilant. A good combination for a detective.”  


Kyoko frowned. “As much as I enjoy the pleasantries, we have an important matter to discuss. I believe I have a lead on Kamukura.”  


Usami’s smile faded.  


“My investigation isn’t complete,” Kyoko explained, “But based on what we have now I believe he’s connected to a young man named Hinata Hajime. A bartender, around our age, who works at a small location in the downtown business district.”  


“Kuzuryu territory?” Usami asked.  


Kyoko nodded. “Hinata is the only person working out of that establishment with no previous ties to the group, and his time of hire is near when Kamukura began close work with the Kuzuryu. Unfortunately I don’t have enough information at this time to determine if he’s a red herring or not. Ground work on both the location and Hinata will be needed. Do you know anything?”  


Usami shook her head. “No. But I can find out.”  


Kyoko rose an eyebrow. “I think the yakuza would notice if Hope’s Peak’s magical girl swept through. Subtlety is not in your nature.”  


Usami pouted. “I don’t live my whole life in costume. I can go undercover.”  


“That’s a large risk,” Kyoko said. “Your identity could be compromised over nothing, or this could be a trap designed by Kamukura.”  


“In which case it would be better for the girl with magical powers to go,” Usami argued. “Kamukura could wipe you out of existence with ease. I can probably get away. And even if it is just a bunch of gangsters I can become bullet proof. You can’t.”  


Kyoko crossed her arms. “I’m confident enough in my skills that it wouldn’t come to that.”  


“Then keep looking into the Kuzuryu,” Usami said. “I’ll look for Kamukura. We’ll meet in the middle.”  


Kyoko sighed. “So our usual strategy? I take on the mundane, you fight the supernatural, and we sweep our enemies?”  


Usami hummed. “Why mess with greatness?”  


Her wings outstretched and she leapt into the air. After a few flaps, Usami began to soar away at high speeds, turning into a comet of light across the night sky.

* * *

The 77th Dragon was a minimalistic bar that sat between an antique shop and an office complex. Half the room was taken up by the dark granite bar and its stools, while the other half hosted four high top tables and a few chairs for each. Two employees stood behind the bar, mixing drinks for their guests. At five in the afternoon the bar was somewhat full, most of its patrons business employees having a drink or two to take the edge off their stressful days. When the young woman wearing an unzipped hoodie stepped through the entryway she stuck out in an instant.  


She stood a fraction shorter than average, dressed in a casual button up under her hoodie, a skirt, and stockings. She pulled her hood down to reveal locks of hair that reached her shoulders before they curled out, and straight cut bangs that stopped just above her eyes. Her gaze drifted over every space of the bar until it settled on an empty table in the back. After she adjusted the straps on her animal backpack, she strode to the table and pulled herself onto one of the seats.  


A moment later one of the two employees came around to her. “Welcome to The 77th Dragon. May I see your I.D.?”  


The woman dug into her backpack and pulled out an identification card. She handed it to the employee, who looked it over.  


“Ms. Nanami Chiaki? Is that correct?” The employee asked.  


Chiaki nodded.  


“I do apologize,” the employee said, handing back her card. “Policy is to make sure we aren’t serving alcohol to those who cannot legally purchase it, and you have such a youthful face. Thank you for your understanding. What can I get for you?”  


Chiaki thought about it. The silence between her and the employee stretched on for almost a minute. The employee’s expression began to falter by the time she spoke. “Water.”  


The employee blinked. “...Just water?”  


Chiaki frowned. “...I suppose I could take a soda. And some chips.”  


“Soda...and chips,” the employee repeated. “Of course, ma’am. I’ll be right back with those.”  


They left, and Chiaki dug into her backpack again. She pulled out a handheld game console and powered it up. Her muscle memory allowed her to load up a game without looking, and her gaze drifted up to the man behind the bar who had not come to speak with her.  


Hinata Hajime looked older than his age. His expression seemed tired even when he was smiling or laughing, and dark circles lurked under his eyes. He never showed abnormal physical qualities for a man with an average build. The whole time Chiaki watched him, he never acted or said anything that someone would find surprising for a young bartender in a city to say. The sole striking feature he had was a single lock of hair that refused to stay flat on his head, instead poking out like an antenna.  


Chiaki stared at his facial features for a long time. After she ate her chips and paid for her meal, she left the bar.  


Chiaki frequented The 77th Dragon over the days that followed. Her attendance helped her learn Hajime’s schedule and keep an eye on his behaviors. He was punctual, hygienic, and professional. He was either good at listening or good at pretending to. If someone seemed like they were in a bad mood, he always tried to give a kind word. Chiaki saw him on occasion pay for a guest’s drinks when he thought no one was looking.  


Almost a week after Chiaki had begun her observations, Hajime broke his routine. The forecast had predicted rain for days, but no one believed significant rain would come this long after the end of the rainy season. Then one evening, a storm swept over Hope’s Peak and dumped a tide of water onto the city. The bar patrons grumbled about it as they brought out their umbrellas and stepped into the downpour. Hajime, who had been scheduled for an earlier shift, cleaned up his section of the bar and prepared to leave with his own umbrella in hand. Chiaki watched from her usual seat as he paused by the door to the bar.  


A patron stood under the overhang to the door and dug through her bag with a frazzled expression on her face. She muttered a curse, closed the bag, and stared through the rain. Chiaki watched Hajime, who squared his shoulders and stepped outside.  


“Excuse me, miss,” he said to the woman. His voice was soft and warm. “If you don’t have an umbrella you can use this one. We keep a few on hand in case something like this happens.”  


The woman stared at him. “No, I couldn’t…”  


Hajime smiled. “It’s okay. You can return it the next time you swing by.”  


The woman continued to hesitate, so Hajime held the umbrella out to her. After a few moments, she took it, murmured her thanks, and stepped out into the rain. Hajime watched her trot away with his shoulders slumped. He turned around to walk back into The 77th Dragon, and almost bumped into Chiaki.  


“Oh,” he said, “uh, hello.”  


Chiaki looked into his eyes. Hajime leaned away from her. “Can I help you?” He asked.  


She pointed in the direction the woman had walked. “That was your umbrella, wasn’t it?”  


Hajime scratched the back of his head. “Uh...yeah.”  


Chiaki tilted her head. “...So what are you going to do now?”  


Hajime shrugged. “There’s a convenience store a few blocks away. If I sprint I should make it there in a minute or two, and then I can pick up a cheap umbrella.”  


Chiaki frowned. “You’ll probably get soaked.”  


Hajime shrugged again.  


Chiaki pulled an umbrella out of her backpack. “This should be big enough for us to share. I can walk with you there.”  


“What? No,” Hajime said, “I wouldn’t want to impose-”  


Chiaki stared Hajime down. “I insist.”  


Hajime wilted under her steeled eyes. “Okay,” he said in a small voice.  


Chiaki opened the umbrella and held it high enough for Hajime to fit underneath with her. They walked in the direction Hajime pointed, and for the first few minutes the only sound between them was the pittering of the rain. As they walked Hajime glanced at Chiaki multiple times. He cleared his throat.  


“Uh, you wouldn’t happen to be NaNaChi, would you? The famous streamer?” he asked.  


Chiaki’s eyes widened and she glanced up at him. “You know me?”  


Hajime nodded. “I’m actually a sub. Hinajime00.”  


He scratched at the back of his head. “I know it’s a lame user-”  


“You’re Hinajime?” Chiaki interrupted, her voice raised. “I see you on almost every time I’m streaming.”  


Hajime gave an awkward smile. “Yeah, I’m...kind of a fan…”  


Chiaki’s eyes almost sparkled. “How long have you been watching?”  


“I’m a little ashamed to admit it, but I found out about you through your twenty-four hour Knights Executing Kings stream,” Hajime said.  


“Wow,” Chiaki said. “That was a while ago. I sometimes forget I ever played multiplayer games.”  


“You do seem to have more fun doing single player challenges,” Hajime said. “Like with your permadeath Demonologist run.”  


Chiaki smiled. “Demonologist was great. I liked how the game kept making you choose between escaping from Hell or going to a lower level to try and catalogue more enemies. The combat was a little stale though, which is why I didn’t complete the game on stream.”  


Hajime nodded along. “But the point of Demonologist wasn’t the gameplay. It was about the Scholar’s struggle to find worth. That’s part of what made the endgame so heartbreaking. You spend hundreds of hours and countless reincarnations trying to catalogue all these demons only for the angels to follow you into the abyss and wipe out all the creatures you’d been studying. The way Lucifer mocks the lost value of your knowledge during the final fight is heartbreaking.”  


Chiaki tilted her head. “...You’ve beaten the game?”  


Hajime scratched at his face. “Well, when you played it seemed like fun. I thought I would give it a try. I’m glad I did. It was one of the best story experiences I’ve ever had.”  


Chiaki frowned. “It made me sad. What kind of RPG ends with the main character broken? I think if there had been one more arc where the Scholar could have found some self worth and then had a rematch with Lucifer, it would have been a better game.”  


Hajime and Chiaki arrived in front of the convenience store. He looked up at the sign for it with a wistful smile. “Maybe it would have been a better game, but then again maybe the point of the game was to remind us that life isn’t always so heroic. That sometimes our best efforts come to nothing. That forces outside of our control could always sweep through and turn our entire lives upside down, and we should be ready to pick up the pieces and move on. No happy endings or triumphant parades, just another day trying to make a living.”  


He stepped out from underneath the umbrella. “In a city like Hope’s Peak, with all the superhero battles and corruption problems, it’s a good thing for talentless people to keep in mind. Thanks for sharing your umbrella.”  


Hajime slipped into the convenience store. Chiaki remained outside, surrounded by the downpour. Other people entered and exited the store. A bus pulled into a stop and then drove past. Still Chiaki stood and stared after him with a mix of shock and sadness.

* * *

Over the next weeks Chiaki continued to visit The 77th Dragon whenever she could. Now though, she sat at Hajime’s section of the bar instead of a back table. They swapped entertaining stories about their days or whatever was on their minds. Chiaki paid close attention to what Hajime would say, which caused a few of the other regulars and employees to trade sly grins.  


“So why did you start coming here?” Hajime asked her one day.  


Chiaki shrugged. “Dunno...just heard good things about this place.”  


“But it’s a bar,” Hajime said. “And all you ever drink is soda.”  


Chiaki took another sip of her glass. “It’s good soda.”  


Hajime’s brow furrowed. “It’s the same soda you can get anywhere.”  


“So what kind of alcohol should I drink?” Chiaki asked.  


Hajime’s expression became guarded. “What do you normally order?”  


“I don’t,” Chiaki said.  


Hajime frowned. He began polishing a glass. “Then don’t start here.”  


Chiaki looked around. “...But it’s a bar.”  


“It’s a public place,” Hajime said. “If you don’t know what your tolerance is, pushing into unknown territory while in public is a bad habit. As is trusting a drink made by a stranger.”  


“Are you saying I shouldn’t trust you?” Chiaki asked. “...Or any bartender?”  


“I just think it’s a bad habit,” Hajime said. “If you keep visiting for a few months I might offer a few drinks for you to try. But right now you’re still pretty new to this scene, and I would hate it if you got comfortable trying drinks from me, then tried a drink from someone else that caused you to stumble out onto the street. Or accept a drink at a party that has some drug in it.”  


Chiaki swirled the ice in her glass. “Isn’t that a slippery slope argument?”  


Hajime switched to wiping down bottles of liquor. “Maybe. But I know there are people out there who would love to prey on an unbalanced drunk. Especially someone with a, uh…”  


Hajime ducked his head. “...Good figure.”  


One of Chiaki’s eyebrows crawled up her head.  


In haste, he added “Objectively. I mean, I’m sure you’re aware of those kinds of dangers. I just like to make sure the people at my bar are taken care of. I wouldn’t want to lose a nice guest to something awful.”  


He dry swallowed. “I’m sorry.”  


“What are you apologizing for?” Chiaki asked.  


At the other end of the bar, some patrons chuckled. Hajime hid his face in his hands. “Nothing, nevermind,” he mumbled.  


Chiaki opened her mouth, but before she said anything she froze.  


“Are you alright?” Hajime asked.  


Chiaki nodded. She checked her phone. “Darn. I have to leave early tonight, I forgot I was going to meet a friend of mine.”  


Hajime took the card Chiaki offered him. “I hope it’s nothing too serious.”  


Chiaki shook her head. “They’re bad at tech things so I try to troubleshoot for them when their computer breaks. Years of putting together custom computer towers has given me some basic knowledge on hardware. I can usually figure out whatever the problem is.”  


Hajime handed her card back. “Well, good luck with that.”  


Chiaki waved goodbye and left The 77th Dragon. She walked a few blocks, and made sure no one followed her. When she was alone, she slipped into an alleyway and pulled a pink crystal out of her pocket. She cupped it in both hands and held it to her chest. After a moment it covered her in a white and pink light.  


The light bent to her form, gained mass, and definition. It swirled into a dress, stockings, and shoes, then hardened into a pink breastplate, shoulder plates, and over-skirt. A beam of pink light twirled around itself until it popped into existence as a staff. Shards of light turned to feathers and sprouted out of her shoulder blades. A ribbon tied itself in her now-glowing hair, and the half-mask of a rabbit materialized over her face.  


Magical Girl Usami shot into the night sky, up till she was level with the tallest rooftops. She released a pulse of light that radiated over the entire city, then sped off toward a cluster of warehouses. The police had sealed the buildings off from the public, but Usami flew right past their barricades. Just before she slammed into the side of a warehouse, she blinked out of existence and reappeared on the inside.  


A few detectives in suits loitered around the entrance. When Usami appeared they all sighed and looked anywhere but where she was. The single exception to this was Kyoko, who slipped a purple crystal back into her pocket at Usami’s arrival. The detective paced around the center of the warehouse and looked over its contents: Bundles of cash thrown into pools of blood. A table lay, splintered, off to the side. In one hand she held a note inside of a plastic evidence bag.  


“Hello, Kiri,” Usami said in her whispering echo.  


“I need you to scan the area for any dark energy,” Kyoko said. “There are some logical inconsistencies that could be explained by the use of magic.”  


Usami hummed to herself as she looked around. “A few splotches, here and there. Like someone opened a can of dark energy too quickly and it spilled out, over and over again. Maybe the Dragon’s Tooth?”  


“Maybe,” Kyoko said. “But normally she’s more surgical than this. Leaving behind evidence this obvious doesn’t fit with her M.O.”  


Usami looked around. “What kind of evidence? I don’t see any bodies.”  


Kyoko held up the note. “It’s a code. I think it’s whatever was going to be purchased with all this money.”  


“Oh?” Usami said. She skipped over to Kyoko. “Why’s that?”  


Kyoko motioned to the floor. “Scattered footprints show a group of adults walked into the warehouse, wheeling a cart of some sort. Scuff marks show a table was here at one point, with more adults standing around it. The cart came to rest by the table, and then some unspecified time later was knocked on its side, then righted and wheeled out while carrying a heavy load. The table has damage that shows it was probably thrown. Blood splatter is consistent with high speed cuts, and the amount of blood combined with the approximate number of adults means that there were likely no survivors from the attack.”  


“Infighting?” Usami asked.  


Kyoko shook her head. “It looks like most of the action originated from a central point. If it was a deal gone south, there would be more pockets of violence where different individuals broke off and had separate fights. This looks like someone leapt onto the scene during the deal and dispatched everyone from there.”  


“Sounds like Dragon’s Tooth to me,” Usami said.  


Kyoko frowned and tapped the side of her face. “Except it’s too easy. On a normal case I would suspect she was responsible if there was more of an attempt to cover her trail. But here there is no other logical alternative, especially when your testimony is considered. And then there’s the matter of the bodily fluids she left behind. Normally she would never leave all this blood to go to waste.”  


Usami perked up. “Maybe it’s a copy cat? Or, ooh, ooh, maybe she loaned the sword out to confuse us.”  


Kyoko shook her head. “No one can wield the sword like her. It would just mummify any common thug that tried to pick it up.”  


She began to pace again while she talked to herself. “But between the evidence of high speed cuts and the dark energy, the sword was definitely used here. If no one else can wield the sword then she was definitely here. So why would the right arm of Kuzuryu Fuyuhiko himself interrupt a deal? And why in such a public fashion?”  


Usami tapped her staff against her leg. “They’ve decided to turn over a new leaf and fight on the side of justice?”  


When Kyoko gave no reaction, Usami pouted and crossed her arms. “What? It’s possible.”  


“Unlikely,” Kyoko said. She looked at the code in her hand. Her eyes widened.  


“They were making an example,” she said.  


Usami tilted her head. “Where do omelettes come into play?”  


Kyoko stared at Usami. Usami flashed a wide grin. “Get it? Example, eggs ample? As in, a lot of eggs?”  


Usami kicked at the warehouse floor. “Aw, it was funnier in my head.”  


Kyoko held the code up. “Usami, this is our breakthrough. The deal was done without the Kuzuryu boss’s permission. One of his lower level lieutenants likely made this copy of a code and tried to sell it off for a fortune. The boss found out and ordered the traitor, any conspirators, and the people who wanted to buy the code executed.”  


She waved over the pools of blood. “That’s why there are no bodies. If we search we’ll probably find them hung in the slums, or mailed to enemies of the Kuzuryu. Whatever it takes to make sure everyone knows the consequences of betrayal. There’s so much evidence so that even the authorities could piece together what had happened. She wanted even us to know how they treat traitors.”  


Usami squatted. “Cool,” she said. “So why didn’t she destroy the code?”  


Kyoko looked it over. “She most likely didn’t have time to locate it. Slicing through over a dozen men and then removing their bodies an unknown distance would take a single individual quite a fair amount of time. Additionally I believe she would have assumed the traitors would have kept the code on their body or in a digital form, not on a piece of paper taped under the table.”  


“That’s a risky thing for the traitor to do,” Usami said. “What if things had fallen apart right from the beginning? The traitors could have been defeated, the code stolen, and then they’d be left with no money and on the Kuzuryu’s bad side.”  


“It’s not well thought out,” Kyoko agreed, “Which is why the Dragon’s Tooth would have assumed they wouldn’t be so foolish. By the time she realized her misjudgement, police would have already arrived on the scene.”  


Usami began making nonsense shapes on the floor with her staff. “So what do you think the code is?”  


“If we’re lucky,” Kyoko said, “details on whatever big plan the Kuzuryu have with Kamukura. How goes things on your end?”  


Usami frowned. “Weird.”  


Kyoko rose an eyebrow. “...Meaning?”  


“Well, the guy looks almost exactly like Kamukura,” Usami explained.  


“I noticed that as well,” Kyoko said.  


“But he doesn’t have any of Kamukura’s dark energy coming off him,” Usami continued. “And I still don’t see a reason for why he would work in a place like that. Kamukura never seemed like the type to have a day job.”  


“We know nothing about Kamukura,” Kyoko said. “Perhaps he’s the same as so many other serial killers, lashing out because of the stress in their lives.”  


Usami shook her head. “Not him. Kamukura gives off a feeling of being so above everything. I don’t think he feels emotions. And Hinata is kind of the opposite? Like his life is just him slogging through mud. But despite that he seems very empathetic. After all this time I haven’t had one moment where I thought ‘Oh, this guy is bad.’”  


“But he’s definitely connected to Kamukura,” Kyoko said. “His schedule matches up too well, and he’s been spotted enough times near locations that Kamukura has then appeared at. The deeper my background check goes the more coincidences tie him to your nemesis.”  


Usami’s frown deepend. “I know. I just can’t see him as a direct supporter. It doesn’t fit.”  


“Don’t let your preconceptions cloud your judgement,” Kyoko said. “For all we know Kamukura is playing you, trying to lower your guard so that he can strike when you’re defenseless.”  


“For all we know, that code is a trap created by him too,” Usami shot back.  


They were both silent for a moment.  


“Sorry,” Usami said. “I’ll work harder to find out what the connection is between Kamukura and Hinata. Promise you’ll be careful with that code?”  


Kyoko nodded. “I’ll let you know if we make any breakthroughs. Stay vigilant.”  


Usami smiled and made a V with her fingers, then vanished from the warehouse.

* * *

Hajime knocked on the bar next to Chiaki’s head. Her eyes fluttered open. She stretched in her barstool and yawned. A partial glass of soda sat in front of her, so she grabbed it and finished it off.  


“Refill please,” she said when she set the glass down.  


Hajime frowned. “Are you okay? You’ve seemed tired the past few days.”  


“I’m always tired,” Chiaki said.  


Hajime thought about that. “...I guess that’s true. You fall asleep a lot during your stream.”  


He refilled her glass and Chiaki began sipping at it.  


“But,” he continued, “you still seem a little different than normal.”  


Chiaki shrugged. “Someone I know lives in a dangerous area. She’s worried something is going to happen tonight. Something big.”  


Her gaze slid to Hajime’s face. “She swears Shadowman is involved.”  


Hajime rose an eyebrow. “The Shadowman? Isn’t that the magical girl’s nemesis?”  


“Supposedly,” Chiaki said.  


Hajime began polishing a glass. “Then won’t she deal with it?”  


Chiaki cocked her head. “Usami can’t be everywhere at once.”  


Hajime chuckled. “I guess. The way I hear the stories, it sounds like she always shows up when you need her. But logically there has to be someone behind that mask who needs to take a break every once in awhile. Unless you believe the theory.”  


Chiaki leaned forward. “...What theory?”  


“That she’s an angel,” Hajime said, “like, straight out of some religious book, here to save us unworthy humans from ourselves.”  


Chiaki propped herself on the bar with an arm. “You almost sound sarcastic.”  


“Do I?” Hajime asked. “Sorry, I don’t mean to. I’m actually a really big fan of the superheroes we have in town. Usami, Titanium Shogun, Princess Typhoon and the Immortal, Fate’s Pupeteer, the old Graduates, and who knows how many others keep to the shadows?”  


“You know about the Immortal?” Chiaki asked. “They’re pretty obscure.”  


Hajime gave an awkward smile. “Uh, yeah, I guess. Aren’t a lot of people like that though? We think super heroes are cool when we’re kids so we learn everything we can about them, then when we get older we all pretend to have grown out of it while still eating up every bit of news that comes out.”  


Chiaki stared up into nothing. “I wonder. And not all supers are heroes. Most of the people you listed have nemeses, I think.”  


Hajime sighed. “True. It’s unrealistic to think that everyone with that kind of power would act so selfless.”  


Chiaki watched Hajime. “What about you? If you got a chance to get that kind of power, would you take it? Even if it meant you became someone society didn’t like?”  


Hajime set the glass down. He organized his liquor bottles, made a drink for another guest, and wiped up some water. At last he returned to the spot of the bar in front of Chiaki.  


“If I’m honest, probably.” he answered.  


Chiaki’s brows came together.  


“It’s not the best thing to say,” he continued, “but after a quarter of a century living, I’m sure I’d give anything for a chance to become something greater than I am now. If someone walked up to me and told me they had a serum that would make me turn into a living fireball that could go anywhere and incinerate anything, I’m sure I’d drink it.”  


“But what about the life you have now?” Chiaki asked.  


Hajime shrugged. “It’s not bad, but compared to the life of a super? There’s no contest.”  


He looked at her expression and chuckled. “I’m sorry, was that a little too dark? Something about these questions bring out the more cynical side of me. What about you? If you could have any super power what would you want?”  


Chiaki swirled the ice in her glass. “I dunno. Healing, maybe.”  


Hajime wiped down the bar top next to Chiaki. “Why?”  


“So I can ease people’s pain,” she said.  


Chiaki finished her drink and handed Hajime her card. “I should probably get going. You here all night?”  


Hajime took it. “Until the clock rolls into the new day at least. Lately it’s been nothing but late shifts. Sorry for the depressing conversation.”  


“Don’t be,” Chiaki replied. “I appreciate the honesty.”  


When Hajime returned her card, Chiaki slid off the stool and left the bar. She stepped away from street view, glowed for a moment, then hopped straight into the air until she was on top of the building. Once she’d settled, she pulled her crystal out and lit up the night with her transformation.  


Magical Girl Usami streaked across the city, toward a derelict subway line. She came to a sudden stop then teleported to the ground, her wings folded around her like a cloak. When she stood up, Usami was face to face with Kyoko, who had no reaction to her sudden appearance. The detective glanced at the time on her phone. “You cut that close.”  


Usami’s giggles echoed around them. “A hero always arrives in the nick of time.”  


Kyoko’s deadpan expression remained. “I see.”  


Usami coughed. “So that’s the tunnel over there, right?”  


Kyoko nodded. “According to that code we found, the Kuzuryu are buying some opioids from an out of town group. Probably to help expand their influence in the underground of Hope’s Peak. If the information is accurate, Kamukura set up the deal as a favor to Fuyuhiko himself.”  


Usami whistled. “So the Kuzuryu are asking help from super villains? Weird. They never asked Monokuma for help.”  


“Goes to show how much power they’ve lost since we started getting in their way,” Kyoko said.  


“So are the drug people down there yet?” Usami asked.  


“Not yet,” Kyoko said. “I’ve alerted the authorities, but if you want to remain on hand in case Kamukura shows up…”  


Usami gave a thumbs up. “Good plan.”  


She vanished from Kyoko’s side and appeared high up in the sky. There Usami drifted for a quarter of an hour. To pass the time she watched the city below. Kyoko remained in her hiding spot, where she could keep an eye on the entrance to the tunnel with minimal chance of discovery. Cars sped on the streets that surrounded the derelict subway line, driven by people who itched to be at their destinations after late nights. Further away, the rest of the city went through its usual night routines.  


“How dull it all is,” a voice behind Usami said.  


She gasped, and released a blast of multicolored light. She spun in place and levelled her staff forward. The air around her was empty. Usami’s wings began to beat faster as she glanced around.  


When she found him, it was because of his eyes. Two red pinpricks that glowed in the night sky. As Usami watched, the darkness gathered around those eyes and pulsed as it gained mass and definition. The shadows took on the form of a slender man in a suit. His face was pale, and his hair was a mass of black locks that reached to his ankles. Each lock twitched to its own movements, and one lock hid the middle third of his face from view.  


Usami’s jaw set. “Kamukura Izuru.”  


“Magical Girl Usami,” Izuru said. His voice was soft, yet cold. “I expected to find you here.”  


Usami’s wings spread wide. “As you should. I plan on stopping any plan you put in motion.”  


Izuru remained expressionless. “You cannot stop what doesn’t exist.”  


Usami tilted her head. “What do you mean by that?”  


When Izuru said nothing, Usami glanced down at the subway tunnel. Multiple police cars had arrived, but there were no mobsters in sight. Kyoko was out of hiding and pointed up towards her. A portable spotlight had been pulled out of the trunk of a car and was about to be aimed at them.  


Usami sucked in a breath. “There’s no drug deal. You lured us out here.”  


“Us,” Izuru repeated. “I suspected you had allies. Now I know one of them. It won’t take long before I find the others.”  


Usami blasted him with a beam of light.  


“Leave them alone,” her echoing voice screamed into the night. “They have nothing to do with our fight.”  


“They support you,” Izuru said in the same echoing voice from all around. “They have helped you grow into something that is in my way. So I will deal with them the same way I shall deal with you.”  


When the last echoes of his voice faded, Usami spun in a circle. The sky around her was empty again.  


“Kiri,” she whispered.  


Usami blasted down to the ground. On the way she arced her staff through the night, which released a rainbow that sped ahead of her and into the police in Kyoko’s vicinity. The arc of light reached them just as dark tendrils appeared from the ground and struck. Where the attacks met, they combined and dissolved.  


“Watch out,” Usami yelled. She swooped down and tackled Kyoko, knocking the detective away from a hail of shadow bullets that Izuru launched. One of the bullets caught Usami in the leg. The magical girl winced and crashed to the ground.  


She extracted herself from Kyoko. “I’ve got him.”  


“Give us time to set up,” the detective told her as Usami hovered away.  


Izuru stepped out of the shadows. Usami launched another beam of light at him, but he avoided it with a step to the side. It caught a lock of hair, which vaporized.  
“For all your smugness, I can hurt you as much as you hurt me,” Usami said.  


Izuru glanced at the missing lock. Shadows wrapped around the burnt end and restored it to full length.  


Usami frowned. “No fair.”  


Izuru looked back at her. “Never forget that you have but one power. I have all of them.”  


“More doesn’t mean better,” Usami said.  


“This fight will prove otherwise,” Izuru said.  


Usami gasped when a spike of shadow pierced her undamaged leg from behind. In that same moment, Izuru materialized in front of her and thrust his knee right into her abdomen. When she doubled over his leg, his elbow came down on the back of her head.  


She dropped to the ground, but her feathers turned sharp and launched out of her wings toward Izuru. He stepped out of their way, but the feathers reversed direction and aimed for the back of his head. A wall of shadow formed behind him to intercept the feathers. In the meantime, Usami struggled to her feet, but her legs gave out and she fell to her knees.  


Izuru aimed a kick at her head, but she blocked it with her staff. It let out a pulse of light which singed his entire leg, so he stomped his foot and caused it to glow with red energy. His second kick moved faster than the eye could track and snapped her staff in half. Undeterred, Usami glared at Izuru and shot twin beams of light out of her eyes.  


“Futile,” he whispered. The beams bored into his chest and his form dissolved. Usami tried to stand again while the police set up their floodlights. The first large lamp to turn on was pointed right at Usami, creating a spotlight around her. After a moment, the bulbs inside the lamp exploded into miniature fireballs, and the sudden darkness wrapped around Usami and pulled her back across the yard.  


She slammed against a wall, next to an undamaged Izuru. He reached out with a glowing green hand and began to throttle Usami’s neck. She struggled, but as the glow in his hand intensified her protests grew weaker. The shadows around them were so thick the magical girl’s glow helped her see little, but Izuru’s eyes were wide and staring. His gaze was fixed upon the curve of her lips, the most prominent detail on her face that was exposed.  


His grip loosened for a moment. His voice took on a slight tone of wonder. “I know you,” he stated.  


With his other hand, Izuru reached for Usami’s mask. The moment he touched it, the mask began an intense glow. It singed his hand, and forced him to recoil. The jewel in Usami’s choker shot out a small orb of light, which floated right into Izuru’s face and exploded.  


Izuru teleported backwards and Usami slid down the wall. Leaning on it for support, Usami began taking quick and deep breaths. Her body’s glow flickered with her breaths, growing stronger each time she breathed in. With a shout, Usami released that energy into an umbrella of light that covered over the area she and Izuru stood in.  


Izuru looked around him. “How long before your innovation runs dry? Tricks like this won’t beat me.”  


“I...don’t have...to beat you...yet,” Usami panted. “Just...buy enough...time.”  


On cue, half a dozen spotlights aimed towards them turned on. The darkness that had covered their surroundings a minute ago was gone, and Izuru stood in full view of the police squad that surrounded him. Kyoko stood by one of the spotlights, and made sure it remained trained on Izuru.  


The sounds of approaching helicopters echoed through the air. Izuru glanced toward the night sky. “This is not enough to restrain me.”  


“It will...if I...whittle at you,” Usami said.  


Izuru brushed at the spot on his chest Usami blasted earlier and chose not to respond with words. In the mass of light, it was obvious not a scratch lay on his body.  


Usami grimaced. She held out her hand and a new staff formed. Her wings regrew and pulled her up until she hovered off the ground, her limp legs left to dangle. “You’re not the only one who can get a second wind.”  


Izuru looked around him. “This is all unnecessary. I got what I came for. The rest can wait.”  


He looked back at Usami, and for a moment a gust of wind created by the helicopters moved the central lock of hair from its spot. She had a clear view of his face, his features, which looked like a mirror image of Hinata Hajime. Then the Shadowman vanished from sight, and left Usami with slumped shoulders.

* * *

In the late morning the streets around the 77th Dragon were much more crowded than at late night. Magnitudes more office employees bustled down the paths to and from their jobs, at a brisk pace and with little time spent on pleasant conversations. Chiaki was jostled on numerous occasions as she worked her way toward the bar. Just as she made it to the door, it was ripped open and Hajime, with visible bags under his eyes, toppled out onto the street.  


His back hit the sidewalk with an audible thud. The people in the immediate vicinity of the bar gasped and altered their paths to go around him. Many gave him sidelong glances or shook their heads with looks of disgust. Hajime noticed neither them, nor Chiaki. She stood by the door, frozen in shock. His attention was on a large man that stood inside the entrance to the 77th Dragon.  


“Please,” Hajime pleaded with him, “I really need this job. I’ve done great work so far - I can do better - just please give me another chance.”  


The man spat at him. “Trash like you needs to beg at a different street corner, before it gets tossed in with our other burnable shit.”  


He slammed the door close. Hajime, left alone, lay in the street. The former bartender stared at the sealed entrance. Chiaki relaxed from her stiff position and hobbled to his side. “Are you alright, Hinata? What happened?”  


Hajime flinched and glanced at her. “...NaNaChi? Oh, sorry you had to see that. It’s, uh, no big deal.”  


Chiaki frowned. “I don’t understand. How can they just throw you out like that?”  


Hajime shrugged. “Apparently I vanished from work yesterday. It was a busy night and I left the other guy all alone, which slowed him down quite a lot. The owners weren’t too happy when they found out so they took me off their payroll.”  


He missed Chiaki’s nervous swallow. “Apparently?” she asked. “Did you not actually leave work? Maybe this other person just lied to get you in trouble.”  


Hajime shook his head. “I don’t know. Even if I did, the owners didn’t like me too much anyway. If I fought it with them things would just go even worse for me.”  


“How would you know?” Chiaki asked.  


Hajime got to his feet. “This kind of thing has happened before. I developed some strange condition a few years ago. There are times where my memory goes blank and I can’t remember what I’ve been doing for a while. I could be helping a customer one moment and the next, standing inside my kitchen. Usually, when I realize my memories are missing I also get hit with a wave of exhaustion that makes it difficult to do much of anything.”  


He tried to smile at her. “You can see how this would make it hard to keep a job for too long.”  


Chiaki stared back. “That...that sounds…”  


“Unbelievable?” Hajime supplied.  


Chiaki shook her head. “Difficult. How do you deal with it?”  


He shrugged again. “Pick up. Move on. Not much else I can do. I need money to eat and keep a roof over my head, so I need to find another job. Hopefully one that hasn’t heard of me yet.”  


Hajime turned away, then reconsidered. “Thanks for listening. Most people just assume I’m making it up to excuse laziness. They give me looks, like I’m some disgusting slimeball. But you’re different. Kinder. It’s been great to serve you.”  


He turned away again. Before he could walk away, Chiaki grabbed him by the wrist.  


“Wait,” she said.  


Hajime stopped and looked at her. Chiaki thought about what she was going to say. Her eyes slid shut and her body began to list to one side. Her grip around Hajime’s wrist slackened.  


“Hey,” he said, “You’re in the middle of a crowded street. Now is a bad time to fall asleep.”  


Chiaki rubbed at her eyes. “Probably. That’s a good point. Besides, it would be weird if I fall asleep even though you look more exhausted.”  


Hajime rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, just because I’m tired doesn’t mean you can’t be tired too.”  


Chiaki nodded. “Another good point. You want to go grab some coffee? There’s a place nearby that does great drinks.”  


Hajime frowned and said nothing, so Chiaki continued. “Talking with you has been fun. I don’t want it to end just because you lost your job for some stupid reason. So I think, if we could keep meeting up and talking, I’d really like that.”  


“Oh,” Hajime said. He shuffled in place. “Um...I mean, I wouldn’t want to impose on your schedule…”  


“It’s flexible,” Chiaki said.  


“...I guess I don’t have a reason to say no,” Hajime finished. “I’ve got all the time in the world now, anyway.”  


Chiaki smiled. “Great. Let’s get moving.”  


She slipped in front and pulled him along toward the end of the block. Hajime stumbled a bit but soon fell into place beside her.  


“Are you okay? You’re kind of limping,” he told her.  


Chiaki looked him over. He moved with a similar stiffness to her, the kind that could come from muscle pains. His eyes were bloodshot, perhaps from a lack of sleep. His features were almost a perfect copy to the man she had fought yesterday.  


“I’m fine,” she said. “Just had an unfortunate encounter when I was going to my friend’s place. I ended up hurting myself.”  


Hajime rubbed his face. “Ouch. It wasn’t anything the Shadowman was responsible for right? You mentioned he might have been running around the area your friend lives in last night.”  


Chiaki shook her head. “Nope. Turns out he was in a different part of the city fighting Usami.”  


“Did she beat him?” Hajime asked.  


“Don’t think so,” Chiaki muttered.  


Hajime sighed. “Well, I’m sure she’ll stop him one day. Her light will overcome his darkness, he’ll get locked up, and no one will get hurt by his schemes again.”  


Chiaki frowned up at the morning sky. “...I hope so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Knights Executing Kings...get it? Please tell me someone got that.
> 
> Also we're one chapter in and I can already tell Izuru is going to be stupidly overpowered. Please forgive me.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and I'd appreciate any comments, kudos, or whatever. See you next chapter!


	2. Battle with the Dragon, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hajime, Kyoko, and Chiaki face off against the daily challenges of their lives.

The Vorpal Mist sat on the corner of Hope’s Peak’s busiest intersection. The cafe acted as part of the border between the business and entertainment districts of the city, and had a diverse clientele as a result. It had a patio for guests to sit and enjoy their drinks at, though the late fall weather pushed most to stay inside and watch the streets from the number of large windows that wrapped around the building. The inside was decorated with wood furniture and pottery, the lighting was soft, and the background music was mellow.  


Chiaki sat at a table by one of the window walls. She sipped at a warm beverage and watched the passer-by. Her sweatshirt was zipped up to her collar and her backpack rested on the table. She set her drink next to it as her head began to list toward the window. Her eyes slid shut and her breathing evened out.  


“Sorry about that.”  


Chiaki’s eyes blinked open and she glanced across the table. Hajime, his own drink in hand, slid into the seat across from her. “I’m surprised I’ve never heard of this place. It seems to get pretty busy. That line was more brutal than I’d expected.”  


Chiaki yawned. “Yeah, it’s great. Their advertising game isn’t so strong though. I’m glad you remembered where it was.”  


“It’s not hard to find,” Hajime said, “though I wouldn’t say it’s ‘nearby’ where we were when you first invited me. I think we walked through the length of the district.”  


“Any good quest should involve a journey,” Chiaki said. Hajime looked unconvinced as he sipped his drink. She stretched while he nursed the steaming beverage. “So how’re you feeling today?”  


Hajime coughed into his drink. “I...I’m good. Sorry you had to see that side of me. Losing my job made me a bit more emotional than I was comfortable with.”  


Chiaki shook her head. “No worries. Seeing you treated like that upset me, and I was just a bystander. If it were me I probably would have screamed or something.”  


“That would be impressive,” Hajime mused. “Also, likely terrifying.”  


“I just want to make sure you’re okay,” Chiaki continued.  


Hajime gave a small smile. “Really, I’m good. It’s been four days. I would be disappointed in myself if I was still down over a part time job after all that time.”  


Chiaki frowned. “People react to things in different ways. Emotional stresses like job loss shouldn’t have arbitrary time limits put on them...I think.”  


“Isn’t that something you should be more sure of before you declare?” Hajime asked.  


Chiaki stared back out at the street again, absorbed in her thoughts. Hajime gave a quiet cough and continued. “Anyway, it’s been nice to sit at home and just watch whatever, without having to worry about a work shift or something going wrong if I had another blank episode. If there’s a silver lining to my job situation, it’s that I’ve been able to binge your stream.”  


He took another sip. “Speaking of, you’ve been pretty active recently. The past few days must have been open for you.”  


“...Hm? Oh, yeah,” Chiaki said, “It’s been quiet. None of my friends are having any kind of tech issues and I don’t have anything else going on. I’ve been enjoying the time to play video games while I’ve had it.”  


Hajime rose an eyebrow. “That makes it sound like your friends could have their stuff break at any time.”  


“Some days it seems like it,” Chiaki muttered.  


“Isn’t there anyone else they could ask for help? Gaming talents don’t have to line up with computer talents, after all,” Hajime said.  


Chiaki shrugged. “In my case, they do. And anyway, they’re always available to help me right away whenever I need it, and sometimes I ask some pretty extreme things from them. I want to be as helpful as I can in return.”  


“Extreme things?” Hajime repeated. “The life of a top tier gamer must be more exciting than you make it seem on stream.”  


Chiaki nodded. “There’s a lot I don’t talk about. Like the people in my life.”  


She perked up. “For example, my landlady. She’s a nice woman. Wheelchair bound. Very shy. She once pushed her motor to the breaking point to catch up with a postman who had a package for me. Another tenant told me she freaked him out as much as he scared her and it turned into a huge mess.”  


Hajime chuckled. “I can imagine. Though maybe your landlady enjoyed having a reason to get some fresh air. I haven’t left my place much since I lost my job and I’ve already gotten bored of it.”  


Chiaki frowned again. “Are you going to be able to keep living where you are?”  


“For now,” Hajime said. “I have a month or two’s worth of expenses in my savings, just in case something like this happened. Enough time to hopefully get me a new job before I get evicted.”  


Chiaki continued to look worried. “Is that likely?”  


Hajime tried to shrug. “This has happened a few times in the past. I’ve always managed to find something. I just need to start looking.”  


He took a few big gulps of his drink and slammed it down. “Alright. Today is day one of Operation: Hinajime Employment Search. Wish me luck.”  


Chiaki’s expression relaxed. “Good luck. I’ll be cheering for you.”

* * *

Magical girl Usami sped across the evening sky, toward an apartment complex wreathed in flames. Firefighters on the scene tried to extinguish the flames and rushed to save anyone trapped inside the building. A crowd of civilians had gathered outside to watch the building burn. They looked up when Usami passed over them. Some pointed while others cheered.  


Usami’s wings beat back the flames as she circled around the building. She found a window that led to an open room and teleported inside.  


The magical girl reappeared in an apartment that had been converted to an office. The room was beginning to be consumed by the flames, but the desk near the center of the space remained undamaged. A man stood at the desk, where he scattered papers and ripped drawers open. He screamed when Usami appeared.  


Usami blasted him with her staff, then teleported behind him and caught him before he flew into the flames. She appeared by the desk.  


“Um...uh…” she stuttered.  


Her eyes landed on a picture frame and she scooped it up. After a quick look, she found a few certificates, undamaged, hanging on a wall. With a wave of her staff, she pulled them away from the flames at the last moment, swirled the certificates up with a number of loose papers, and then vanished out of the burning building with the ball of paper and the man slung over her shoulder.  


Outside, she appeared next to a police car. The officers jumped when Usami slung the man across the hood of their car. She left the pile of papers in a ball of light next to her, and put the heart-hourglass tip of her staff against the man’s chest.  


“What were you doing in that office?” she demanded.  


The man tried to struggle up, but Usami put pressure on his chest. The hourglass began to glow, and the man squeaked.  


“Whatever threats have been used to silence you, trust that they’re nothing I can’t overcome,” Usami said. “My friends help me, and in return I keep every one of them safe. It’s a perfect relationship. So, do you want to be my friend?”  


The man looked at her staff, at the officers exiting their car, and then up at her. He nodded. “I was destroyin’ it all. Like I was paid to do.”  


“Did you start the fire? Was that your attempt to destroy that office?” Usami asked.  


The man hesitated. “It...was a request…”  


Usami gritted her teeth. “You were going to burn down the whole building? Do you know how many people you endangered? There are children that live in that building - were you asked to hurt them too?”  


The man’s expression crumpled.  


Usami huffed. “Who asked you to do this? Who asked you to burn down this building?”  


The man remained silent. He began looking all around, at rooftops to buildings and down dark alleyways. Usami glanced around her. She leaned a little closer.  


“Was it The Shadowman?” she asked.  


The man swallowed. He shook his head. “Please…”  


Usami sighed. She took her staff away from the man’s chest, and he slumped against the car.  


“Sorry for getting in your way,” Usami said to the officers. “I think I found your culprit.”  


“Thanks, Usami,” one said.  


“Yeah,” the other said with a roll to her eyes, “because we can sure use that confession. He wasn’t under any kind of duress at all.”  


A new voice entered the conversation. “I think you’ll find Usami’s actions a degree kinder than most vigilantes, and within the realm of conduct that police investigators employ. Your sarcasm contributes nothing to the situation.”  


The officer sneered but said nothing. Usami turned to face the new voice and smiled. “Kiri. It’s good to see you unharmed.”  


Kyoko tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I appreciate the concern. Perhaps your worry should be turned to the other occupants of the complex?”  


Usami nodded. With a flick of her wrist she brought the document ball over to Kyoko, and then strode over to hand her the picture frame. “Sorry. It’s all I could save out of your office. We’ll talk once this has been dealt with.”  


Kyoko accepted the picture in silence and stared at it. Usami sped back toward the burning building. She teleported into the top floors of the building and worked her way down. She looked for anyone that might be trapped or unconscious as she passed through each room. Every one she found she took into her arms, teleported out to the night sky, swooped down to the ground, and dropped them off. Families were reunited, pets saved from the embers, a doll returned to its child. One boy, covered in soot and blinking back tears, whispered to his mother “I saw the angel.”  


When Usami had evacuated the building, she waved to the crowd of elated civilians and flew away. She traveled a few blocks then teleported out of the sky, and landed in a crouch next to Kyoko. The detective had stuffed her notes and certificates into a briefcase, and now leaned against the wall of an alleyway. She still held the framed picture. When Usami landed, Kyoko straightened up and used her body to hide the picture in one smooth motion.  


“Any casualties?” Kyoko asked.  


Usami shook her head. “The Hope’s Peak Fire Department does good work. I hope the city can expand their budget soon.”  


“Unlikely,” Kyoko said.  


Usami frowned and wrung her hands around her staff. “Are you okay, Kiri?”  


“I’m fine. I wasn’t even present in the building when the arson happened,” Kyoko said.  


Usami shook her head. “That’s not everything though. That was your home, right? And your office? All your livelihood was there. How are you going to work? What about your other belongings?”  


Kyoko shrugged. “I took out a renter’s insurance policy in case something like this happened. And I have data backups of all my files. It shouldn’t take me long to find a new office space.”  


She glanced down at the framed picture. It showed a smiling middle aged man with dark hair. “You saved everything that couldn’t be replaced. That makes this fire just a temporary setback.”  


Usami still looked worried. “Did you hear what the arsonist said though? This was probably Kamukura’s fault.”  


Kyoko remained impassive. “If The Shadowman really wanted me dead, there were better approaches than this. I suspect this was just him testing our defenses.”  


Usami sighed. “Yeah, probably.”  


Kyoko began to ruffle through her briefcase. “Don’t be so worried. I can take care of myself. Besides, now that Kamukura has made his first move we can make ours.”  


Usami perked up. “Oh?”  


Kyoko pulled out a file. “Remember that code we got off the trap Kamukura laid, about a week ago?”  


Usami nodded.  


“It turns out that the cipher Kamukura used for that code is the same cipher the Kuzuryu use in most of their coded messages,” Kyoko said. “I tried applying it to some other transmissions Alter Ego had intercepted and discovered one of their plans is happening soon.”  


Usami clapped. “Yay!”  


“Yes, thank you,” Kyoko said. “The Kuzuryu are planning a bank heist in the next few days. If we work quick enough I believe we can foil it.”  


“Have you tipped off the police?” Usami asked.  


Kyoko nodded. “Unfortunately, right now the most they can do is increase security. I worry that if we leave things alone the Kuzuryu will just escalate their own forces and turn the heist into a shoot out.”  


“Which is why you want us to get involved before then,” Usami finished.  


“Exactly,” Kyoko said. “Are you up to it?”  


Usami smiled. “Ooh, this is going to be fun.”

* * *

Two evenings later, three men in suits walked into a small general store. The largest of the three men had the spiraling tattoo of a dragon on his jaw. The shop clerk tensed when they strode up to the counter, but said nothing to them. The large man leaned over the counter.  


“Hello, miss,” he said. “I’m here for a pickup.”  


The woman kept her voice even. “I’m sorry sir, but I don’t believe you’ve ordered anything from me.”  


The man smirked to his companions. “She doesn’t believe we’ve ordered anything.”  


He turned back to her. “That’s funny. You’re right, we haven’t ordered anything. According to my books, the one who ordered anything was you.”  


He let his smirk fade. “You’ve fallen behind on your rent payments. I’m here to collect.”  


The woman did her best to hide her shaking. “You...don’t own this building.”  


“The Kuzuryu own this whole block,” the tattooed man said. “Three months ago, you remembered that. You used to be so punctual.”  


“Things change,” the woman said. “I’m done paying under the table bribes to gangsters like you.”  


The man sighed and shook his head. “Things really do change. I hope your insurance wasn’t one of them.”  


He stood from the table and reached into his back pocket. He slipped on a pair of brass knuckles. The other two men fanned out through the small store and began to overturn tables, toss products to the floor, and break display cases. The tattooed man circled around the counter.  


From the doorway, Usami yelled “Justice hops onto the scene!” and blasted into the small store.  


She streaked straight into the tattooed man and threw him against the opposite wall. He hit it and collapsed to the ground with a groan. Usami stood above him and flashed a smile at the stunned shop clerk. “Sorry for my tardiness, ma’am. Never imagined the three of them could slip out of my sight. But hey, what did you think of my entrance? Should I keep using the line?”  


Her echoing voice was meant with no response, so Usami shrugged. “I’ll take that as a yes.”  


One of the other men threw a box of candy bars in Usami’s direction. She dodged out of the way and pouted. “Didn’t your parents ever teach you to not waste food?”  


She teleported behind him and swung her staff like a baseball bat at his temple. When it made contact with his head, a blast of light radiated from the staff and the second man dropped to the ground. Usami looked up and saw the third man frozen in shock. She waved at him.  


“Aw, crap,” he muttered.  


Usami blasted him with a beam of light, then pulled him back towards her and let him slide to her feet. She created a chain of light and wrapped up the two men closest to her. Once that was done, she took a step back and struck a triumphant pose. She smiled at the shop clerk and made a V with her fingers.  


The shop clerk looked around, mouth agape. “My store…”  


Usami’s smile dropped. She looked at everything that had been overturned by her entrance or the way she had thrown the men around. Shelves had been ruined, and the floors were littered with broken or misplaced items.  


“Oh. Wow…” Usami mumbled. “This will probably take a while to clean up.”  


She flashed a nervous smile at the shop clerk. She tugged at her choker. “I’m really sorry. Do you have insurance? This is probably covered by insurance.”  


Usami walked over to the tattooed man and levitated him into the air. “Actually, you know what, this is partially my fault. I’ll make a phone call, see if I can get you reimbursed. It would be wrong of me to just leave you with all this and no compensation.”  


Usami began to leave, the levitated man by her side. “Um, but before all that I have to deal with this guy. In the meantime, call the police? Explain what happened, make sure the two guys I’m leaving here get put behind bars. Once I’m done with this little task I promise I’ll be back to help you clean up. Okay? Okay.”  


She stepped out onto the street and unfurled her wings. The magical girl soared up to the sky with the tattooed man in tow. Usami glanced back at him as his groans grew louder. He became aware of his surroundings as they flew above the buildings, and his groans turned to screams.  


“Geez,” Usami grumbled, “a little bit of height and the whole tough guy act goes out the window.”  


Usami dropped the tattooed man off behind a building. He rolled on the floor, shook, and tried to gain his balance. When he struggled to his knees, he looked up and saw that Kyoko stood before him.  


“Welcome,” she said. “I have a few questions to ask you.”  


Usami landed next to her and gave her wings a shake. “You should probably answer them truthfully. She’s good at detecting lies.”  


She nudged Kyoko. “Get it? ‘Detecting’? Because you’re, you know…”  


Kyoko sighed. “Yes, I am aware.”  


The man looked between Kyoko and Usami. “Ladies-”  


“Let’s skip the bravado,” Kyoko interrupted. “I don’t feel like sitting through your attempts to intimidate me into letting you go. I’m not scared of who you work for, and I’m quite sure I can out maneuver any threats you think you can present to me. What people in your situation often forget is that I have a superhero in my pocket.”  


Usami waved.  


Kyoko leaned closer to the man. “Now, my questions. I want names of Kuzuryu operatives that have been quiet lately. Who they are, what they do, how long they’ve been with the group.”  


The man spit. Kyoko brushed his spittle off her suit coat.  


Usami frowned. “You shouldn’t do that. She’s probably your best bet to stay safe while in prison.”  


The man rose an eyebrow. “Who says I’m going to prison? And that I’d be in danger?”  


Usami motioned to herself. “Well you’re going to prison because, duh, I’m here. You don’t get to walk away. And you’ll be in danger because the Kuzuryu don’t like it when people rat on them to us. They’ll probably try to hurt you.”  


“They’ll know I’m not a rat. You can gouge my eyes out and I’ll still keep quiet. They know that,” the man said.  


Usami hummed. “I dunno. My friend and I have been doing this for something like ten years-”  


“-It hasn’t even been two-” Kyoko cut in.  


“-and we have an impeccable success rate,” Usami continued over her. “Once word gets out we carted you away someplace secret and then dropped you off at prison, your boss will do the math on what must have happened.”  


“It wouldn’t be the first time someone has been killed because they were accused of informing to us,” Kyoko added.  


She turned back to the man. “So the choice before you is this: Tell us what we want to know, then go to prison and lie to everyone about it, and spend however long the police can lawfully stick you behind bars in relative comfort under our protection…”  


The detective shrugged. “...Or don’t tell us, go to prison and tell the other Kuzuryu inside the truth but be murdered for treason anyway. Because without our good will, I promise you will die.”  


Kyoko tapped the side of her face. “Unless you think you have some secret third option?”  


Usami hopped. “Oh, stop teasing him. It’s not like we’re going to tell anyone if he snitches. It’ll be our shared little secret. Besides, Kuzuryu membership is like an open thing anyway, right? Like a badge of honor or something? What’s the big deal about just giving us a bunch of names, especially if it means he gets to keep living and serving Fuyu-Fuyu?”  


The man bit his lip. Kyoko stared him down. “Names. Skills. Seniority,” she said.  


After a moment, the man nodded. Usami smiled. “Great. You take care of that, I have a shop I need to clean up.”

* * *

When Usami returned, she landed on a rooftop and watched a police car take the tattooed man away. The man’s head hung low as he was guided into the back seat of the car. Kyoko had a short and curt conversation with one of the officers, who stormed off when they were finished speaking. Once she was alone, Kyoko sat and flipped through a notebook. She pulled out a loose piece of paper and scrawled notes across it at a controlled pace.  


Fifteen minutes later, she snapped the notebook closed. Usami hopped into the air and teleported down to her side. “Anything good?” She asked.  


Kyoko smirked. 

* * *

Togami Central Bank sat in the heart of the business district, located on the first floors of a large financial complex. The outside facade was black marble, with the name of the bank in large gold characters that stretched across the top. A gigantic television screen played ads while a digital ticker strip below displayed the fluctuations of the stock market. Streams of people entered and exited the bank, who had to pass through checkpoints manned by a small squad of security guards.  


Across the street, Usami and Kyoko watched from a balcony. Kyoko used a pair of binoculars to observe the people going to and from the bank while Usami sat on the guard rail and swung her feet.  


“So do you think the robbers will show up?” Usami asked.  


“Hard to say,” Kyoko said. “Many of the potential heist members had pending arrest warrants, so the police could apprehend them with my information. Unfortunately, there were a number of individuals who had no legitimate reason to be behind bars. They are still free to attempt the robbery.”  


Usami hummed to herself. “That’s fine. I’d rather the police do what they can within the law instead of trying to arrest people without proof. That’s a slippery slope, and I don’t want to get into another tussle with the law over corruption.”  


Kyoko rose an eyebrow. “I’m shocked you can say something like that with a straight face.”  


Usami pouted. “No fair, Kiri. That’s a low blow and you know it.”  


“Anyway,” Kyoko continued, “whoever was in charge of the plan behind the heist should have called it off. With all the arrests the past few days they would have to know someone is hot on their trail. To attempt to rob Hope’s Peak’s largest bank after being compromised would be foolish.”  


Kyoko refocused on the entrance. People now flocked out of the building in hordes, their expressions twisted into panic and fear. A cloud of gas swept over the security checkpoint from inside the building, and the guards collapsed one by one. Alarms inside the bank began to flash.  


Kyoko sighed.  


Usami leapt off the balcony and opened her wings wide. She streaked toward the bank, teleported through the facade, and swooped into the lobby. Through the haze that had filled the room, Usami could make out the extravagant decor and polished counters that any other day would have been occupied by people organizing their finances. Instead, the unconscious bodies of the employees and patrons who couldn’t escape littered the floor. Three armed robbers paced the floor, while a bank clerk ran between drawers. The clerk unlocked the drawers and emptied the cash stored inside into a small bag. The clerk and robbers all wore matching gas masks.  


Usami landed in front of one of the armed robbers. He swore and opened fire. She jerked back as the bullets hit her, then smiled when they cascaded to her feet. The robber kept firing until his gun was empty. Once the final bullet left the weapon, Usami hit him over the head with her staff and he dropped to the ground.  


The gunshots drew the attention of the clerk and other robbers. The clerk swore when Usami dropped the first robber and began to pack the cash from the drawers faster, while the other robbers dropped their guns and pulled out knives. Usami blasted one across the room, then teleported in front of the other and swung her staff at his head.  


The robber ducked her staff and slashed at her stomach with his knife. Usami danced back with a light hearted gasp, then twirled and tried to trip the robber. The robber hopped over Usami’s staff just before it connected with his legs and lunged toward her. Usami met his tackle with an elbow right to his face, then side stepped his stunned body. Usami took advantage of his momentary stillness and ripped the gas mask off his face. The robber began coughing, and after a few breaths went still. Usami checked his pulse and heaved a sigh of relief.  


A banging noise drew Usami’s attention up, as the bank clerk slammed a door open and ran for a back exit with the cash in hand. Usami stood, but the third robber yelled “Don’t move!”  


He was standing behind an unconscious bank teller, who had slumped over their station. The robber pulled back on the employee’s head and had a knife pressed against their throat. “I cut it all out if you so much as blink.”  


Usami tilted her head and the robber flinched. He pressed the tip of the knife into the employee. A droplet of blood ran down the blade.  


Usami frowned. She looked the robber over. His breaths came in short, quick, bursts. He shook where he stood, and kept as much of the hostage’s body between Usami and himself as he could. His entire focus was on Usami’s upper body and staff.  


The magical girl relaxed her stance, and her wings folded around her. The ends of her wings brushed the ground, out of the robber’s line of sight. One of the ethereal feathers on the edge of her right wing bent, independent of the others, and pointed at the knife in the robber’s hand. The feather launched and glided through the air without making a sound. It sliced through the knife at the base of the blade and separated the metal from the handle.  


The tip fell away from the hostage’s throat and clattered onto the desk. The robber gasped when he heard the sound, and Usami took the opportunity to teleport just above him and kick him in the head. He toppled backward, released the hostage, and Usami caught the unconscious employee before they collapsed. Without looking, Usami pointed her staff at the robber and sent a concussive wave of light toward his face just as he tried to stand. The robber fell to the ground and remained still.  


Usami checked the employee over. Besides the prick in their neck, they had no visible wounds. A quick sweep of the room showed that the other employees and patrons were unharmed as well, aside from a few security guards by the interior doors who had been bludgeoned and shot. When Usami found them, she gasped and checked for pulses.  


She shot toward the outside. A police blockade had been set up around the area, and officers kept the crowd of bystanders at a distance. The bank patrons had been lead off to the side where more officers tried to interview them. Ambulances were on the scene, and worked to treat some of the patrons who appeared in shock or had been hurt during their escape. Usami teleported next to one of the EMTs.  


“There are security guards inside the bank who have been seriously hurt,” she told the EMT.  


The EMT jumped in surprise and blinked.  


Usami frowned. “There are people hurt in the bank,” she tried again. “I need you all to go in there and save them.”  


“Uh…” the EMT gulped. “Aren’t there, like...bad guys?”  


Usami waved the comment away. “I dealt with all the armed ones. All you have to worry about is the gas that was used. It seems to knock people unconscious, though I’m worried about what might happen to people who breathe it in too long.”  


She grabbed the EMT’s hand. “Can you help them?”  


The EMT looked around at the others in the area. They all looked back at him. One spoke up from inside an ambulance. “Let’s do it. Why not?”  


The EMT nodded to Usami. She smiled and turned to walk away.  


“What about you?” The EMT called. “Didn’t you breathe in the gas?”  


Usami flashed him a smile. “I’m a being of light, silly. I don’t need to breathe.”  


She flew up into the sky, and looked around. Soon she saw Kyoko, who stood near an alleyway with two officers. The officers had the bank teller who had fled with the cash between them. The officers escorted the handcuffed bank teller away and left the detective alone. Usami teleported next to Kyoko.  


“I see you finished my work for me,” Usami said.  


Kyoko’s expression remained neutral while she watched the bank teller be guided into the car. “The robber's didn’t break in from the front, so I doubted they would try to escape that direction. Once you went in it made sense they would flee. With all that in mind it wasn’t hard to deduce the most logical exits and be in place to intercept.”  


Usami glanced at Kyoko, and noted the sweat on her forehead and neck. “I dunno Kiri, it seems like it would be hard if you had to run the whole time.”  


Kyoko shrugged. “Another reminder for me to work on my cardio. The fatigue pales in comparison to our victory today. Between all the arrests we’ve already helped make and this foiled heist, the Kuzuryu have experienced a major setback. If we can get any of the robbers to reveal how they pulled off a plan like this, then it’ll be even worse for the yakuza.”  


Usami rested a hand on Kyoko’s shoulder. “I have faith in the police. And in you. You’ll get someone to talk. And hey, even before all this business with Kamukura we’d been whittling away at the yakuza. Maybe this is what breaks them.”  


Kyoko tucked some hair behind her ear. “We can only hope. I assume this is where you’ll take your leave?”  


Usami smiled. “Good intuition. The life of a super vigilante is never slow.”  


And with that, Usami hopped into the sky and sped off to a different part of the city.

* * *

Chiaki and Hajime sat at a table in the Vorpal Mist and sipped at their drinks.  


“So how’s the first week of Operation: Hinajime Employment...Search…” Chiaki asked while nodding off in her seat.  


“Quiet,” Hajime said. He gave Chiaki a worried look. “How about you? Are you getting enough sleep?”  


“...Loads…” Chiaki said with her eyes closed. She took a long sip of her drink.  


Hajime frowned. “I guess the life of a popular streamer is busier than I thought.”  


Chiaki nodded. “It’s never slow.”  


“Oh, speaking of, great stream yesterday,” Hajime said.  


Chiaki smiled. “So you said in the chat.”  


Hajime scratched his face. “Well, yeah, but I thought I’d tell you in person. It was great to watch. Your reflexes on that snowboarding simulator are crazy.”  


Chiaki shrugged. “It’s easier than it looks. Once you get the timings down for jumps and stuff your muscle memory takes over and then you can get high scores without even really thinking about it.”  


Hajime chuckled. “You say things like that, but I’m not sure it’s as easy as you say. Still, it helped push away some of the negative things I’d been feeling and I appreciate that.”  


Chiaki frowned. “About your job search?”  


Hajime shook his head. “Remember that bar I worked at? The one where we met?”  


Chiaki nodded.  


Hajime coughed. “I...kind of swung by there yesterday. I don’t really know why. I guess to have a little more closure or something.”  


“Did they throw you out?” Chiaki asked.  


“I didn’t actually go in,” Hajime clarified, “I just walked by. But turns out someone had vandalized it.”  


Chiaki’s brow furrowed. “Vandalized how?”  


“There was this huge graffiti on the wall next to the door,” Hajime explained. “Really detailed too. And disturbing. I took a picture if you want to see.”  


Chiaki held out her hand. Hajime pulled the picture up on his phone. Chiaki looked it over and her eyes narrowed.  


The graffiti was of a large black dragon, which glared and twisted in knots. Below the dragon was a burning building with the word ‘Bank’ written on top of it, along with a pile of stick figure bodies in a pool of blood. A destroyed police car lay off to one side, and a ball of shadows cut in half hovered in the other. In the dragon’s mouth, with an expression of terror frozen on its face, was a bleeding white rabbit.  


Above the dragon were the words _This Means War_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so begins the first major story arc of MGU! I'm really excited to show you all how this plays out. 
> 
> Thanks for the amazing response to chapter 1. It's been years since I last wrote any fanfiction, and this is a first for me both on Ao3 and for Danganronpa. To see the amount of attention this story has received is really heartwarming.
> 
> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed. I'd appreciate any kudos, comments, subs, or whatever you could throw my way. See you next update!


	3. Battle with the Dragon, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Usami and Kyoko stand against the opening moves of the Kuzuryu's attempted war.

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu was a man of small stature. Even with the help of the camera, and the coat he wore, he appeared no larger than a high school student. The mob boss was one big image clash: the intimidation created by his tailored pinstripe suit and hard glint in his eyes was undercut by his youthful face and tone. Despite all that, he kept his back straight and spoke into the camera without reservation.  


“Listen up, you fucking nosy rabbit,” he spat. “I’ve put up with your shit for almost two damn years now. And I think I’ve been a nice host. I’ve given you more chances than a loli freak deserves. But this beef between you and the Shadowfuck is where I draw the line.”  


He held up a piece of paper. “I’m not a retard. It wasn’t hard to figure out you and your butt buddies used that stolen code to interfere with our heist. A code that Shadowfuck convinced one of my own men to try and sell off. Probably to lure your skinny ass into a trap, right?”  


Fuyuhiko ripped the paper in two. “Well guess what? When I entered an arrangement with that long haired bastard, it wasn’t to become a pawn in some fucked up super’s territory war. Between you and your damn nemesis, my family has had the shit kicked out of it.”  


Fuyuhiko smirked. “Yeah, I’ll say it. You hurt the Dragon. But all that did was wake us up. Starting today, the Kuzuryu are re-establishing dominance in Hope’s Peak. This city was my birthright, and I’m not letting any superpowered shitbags stand between me and control. Not Shadowfuck, and not a little bitch like you. So go apologize to your loved ones, because when I’m done they’ll all be floating upside down in the bay. And you with them.”  


The recording ended, frozen on his patronizing smile. Kyoko closed the video and slipped her phone back into her pocket. “That was found on a USB drive that had been placed in the evidence locker at the police department. I suppose he meant it as a kind of message.”  


Usami tilted her head. “Are you sure he’s not just posing? Fuyu-fuyu does that a lot. Talk big and then follow up small. He’ll probably just send the Dragon’s Tooth to fight us a little then call this whole thing done.”  


The two of them were standing on their rooftop, the night sky clouded over and shrouding Hope’s Peak in a thick darkness. Usami was like a beacon as she shifted in place, her wings pulled tight against the cold. Kyoko stood across from her, her usual neutral expression in place.  


“That is his normal response to your activities,” Kyoko said. “Though I think after the number of victories you’ve had over his personal assassin, he would think of a different tactic.”  


Usami shrugged. “I don’t think Fuyu-fuyu is a very adaptable person. He’ll make the same mistakes he always does until it destroys him.”  


Kyoko began to pace. “Mistakes like attempting to fight supers with mundane means. I wonder if he believes he has a trump card of some sort.”  


“Maybe it’s a rocket launcher,” Usami mused. “I can’t wait to find out if I’m rocket proof or not.”  


“By the sounds of things, the Kuzuryu will be targeting more than just you this time,” Kyoko said. “Fuyuhiko thinks he can fight you and Kamukura at the same time. Perhaps we will be extremely fortunate and they will destroy each other?”  


Usami pouted. “I mean, maybe. Probably not. We’ve been fighting Kamukura for months, so I doubt Fuyu-fuyu and the Tooth will take him down. But miracles are possible I guess.”  


Kyoko rose an eyebrow. “Are you chafing at the idea of someone else defeating Kamukura?”  


“No,” Usami said, louder than necessary. “I just think when ‘someone’ defeats him, it’ll be the people who put in the time and effort. Not someone who waltzed in and was all like ‘oh hey, I’m going to make this problem go away’.”  


“Sure,” Kyoko said. “Just keep an eye out for any increased Kuzuryu activity.”  


With a pointed look, she added “And on any increased Kamukura activity.”  


Usami gave a sheepish grin. “I promise I’m still investigating. Once I figure something out I’ll let you know.”  


“What are you looking for?” Kyoko asked.  


Usami thought about it. “Maybe for Hinata to walk into a dark alley and meet up with suspicious cloaked figures? Or for him to like, be teleported into another dimension? Something obvious like that.”  


Kyoko frowned. “So after all this time you still have no leads?”  


Usami shook her head. “Nope. Nothing.”  


Kyoko crossed her arms. “Usami…”  


Usami threw her hands up into the air. “Okay, okay, so Hinata claims to have weird random memory lapses and fatigue episodes. But that’s it, that’s all I know. And it sounds like he’s had them for a while, so it might not even be connected to Kamukura.”  


“Or he’s lying to cover his dual identity,” Kyoko said.  


Usami sighed. “Yeah, maybe. Or maybe the memory lapse thing is a lie to cover alcoholism or whatever. We still don’t have anything conclusive to tie them together.”  


Kyoko looked back at the pocket she had slipped her phone into. “And there’s a good chance we’ll be distracted for the near future by other events. Just make sure to keep an extra eye on any of Kamukura’s activities.”  


Usami smiled. “Oh Kiri. Ever the micromanager. Relax a little, I’ve got this under control.”  


She yawned. “Man, these late nights are killer. Go get some sleep. If Fuyu-fuyu really does plan to wage a war then we’ll need to be well rested.”  


Usami stretched out her wings and leapt into the sky. Alone, the detective pulled her phone back out and began to open news pages. Breaking reports of disturbances at multiple prisons around the country were plastered over every headline.  


“As if there’s time to rest,” Kyoko muttered.

* * *

A few days later, Chiaki entered the Vorpal Mist. Her feet dragged and her eyes were almost closed. She stumbled through the door and walked toward the counter, but stopped when she bumped into someone. “Sorry,” she mumbled.  


“NaNaChi?” The person asked.  


She blinked up at them. “Hinata? You’re early...I think.”  


Hajime gave a sheepish grin. “Yeah, I’m going to be busy the rest of the day so I thought if I got here early enough I might catch you before I had to leave.”  


“Good busy or bad busy?” Chiaki asked.  


Hajime shrugged. “Just kind of busy. We’ll see if it turns out to be good or bad.”  


He frowned. “I know I ask this a lot, but are you okay? Did you sleep well last night?”  


Chiaki nodded. “Yeah, I was up finishing my all sword saint run of Flame Sigil Nine.”  


Hajime paused. “Flame Sigil Nine? Don’t you only get four sword saints in that one? That’s not even enough to fill up half a squad.”  


“Five possible,” Chiaki corrected, “Two of them require crazy power levelling before they can gain the sword saint title, two of them come as sword saints already, and then the fifth is your hero unit if you specialize them in sword training and buff their speed. The five of them are overpowered enough you can blitz the whole end of the game without having any other units to support them.”  


“That sounds really cool. Where do you get all these awesome ideas?” Hajime asked.  


Chiaki yawned. “Popular online...requests…”  


Hajime glanced at the time. His shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry I missed you today, but I’ve gotta go. There’s a guy who gave me a call last night about a possible construction job.”  


Chiaki waved him off. “It’s cool. You free later in the week?”  


“Uh…” Hajime looked at the calendar on his phone. “Next week looks better right now.”  


Chiaki smiled. “See you then. Good luck.”  


With a strained smile, Hajime ducked around her and left the cafe. Once he was out of sight Chiaki’s smile turned to a frown. She trudged up to the counter and ordered her usual drink. She had a seat at a table and sipped on it for a quarter of an hour. All the while she stared at the unoccupied seat across from her with a dull expression. The conversations from the people around her filtered into her space.  


“...Things have been pretty scary in the city lately, right?”  


“I’ve heard a bunch of the criminals that escaped are in the area…”  


“If we’ve got Usami then what’s the problem? She’s been all over lately stopping them…”  


“...The police are starting to get attacked too. Feels like things have gotten bad.”  


“Time passes, and once the crime wave is over you’ll see how small this all was.”  


“Tell that to the people who have been hurt…”  
Chiaki finished her drink and left the Vorpal Mist, her head hung a fraction lower than when she entered.

* * *

Nights later, a blast of light filled one of the smaller streets in downtown Hope’s Peak. A man covered in tattoos groaned and fell to the ground at Usami’s feet. The crowbar he had gripped slid out of his hands and clattered to the ground next to a beat up car. The magical girl put one hand on her hips and twirled her staff with the other. “Carjacking? Really? Is this your boss’s idea of supreme villainy?”  


She looked around. “Hey, where’s your friend? The skimpy looking one who peed himself when I jumped down here, remember?”  


Usami nudged the man. “Oh wait. You’re winking away now. Whoops.”  


With an extra twirl, she levitated the man off the road and onto the curb. After that she skipped up to the nearest door and knocked. She waited for a minute then knocked again. Someone grumbled as they walked to the other side of the door and unlocked it. A middle aged man opened the door enough to peer through the crack. When he saw Usami his eyes widened.  


“Hey there,” Usami smiled and pointed over her shoulder. “Is that your car?”  


The man glanced at the car and gave a slow nod.  


“Cool,” Usami said, “I kinda caught someone trying to steal it. Could you call the police to have someone come pick him up? Oh, and tell them he needs medical attention. I got a little rough with him.”  


The man made a strangled gurgling noise.  


Usami giggled. “Sorry, this is probably a lot, what with it being so late at night. Just call the authorities whenever you’re ready. Don’t wait too long though, I’d hate for the poor soul on the curb to catch a cold. It’s chilly out here.”  


“Uh…” the man coughed. “Would you like a cup of tea?”  


Usami tilted her head. “Hmmm. That does sound nice…”  


She sighed. “But I’m needed other places. Some other time, okay?”  


She danced back onto the sidewalk. “Have a good night!”  


With a leap, she outstretched her wings and teleported into the sky. She flew in circles around the attempted carjacking and peered into the streets below. Her lips turned down in a frown. “Now where did that other guy go?”

* * *

Usami and Kyoko hid around the corner of a building. Usami was pressed flat against the wall, while Kyoko knelt by the ground and used a hand mirror to peer into the street. In the middle of the day, a small mob had formed in front of a community center. Bottles with rags stuck into their necks were passed among the mob in discrete ways.  


“Now?” Usami asked.  


“Not yet,” Kyoko said.  


Usami knocked the back of her head against the wall. “Why go after a place like this anyway? I’m not seeing the point.”  


“Many of the people you’ve helped who have nowhere else to turn have come here, looking for guidance or shelter,” Kyoko said. “Homeless people, abuse victims, runaways. Those who were inspired by you to try and move on with their lives. I’ve heard some of them have started a support network in your honor.”  


Usami pressed her lips into a thin line. “So the Kuzuryu are going to vandalize this place just because I have some small connection to it? How petty.”  


She tightened her grip on her staff. “Now?”  


Kyoko shook her head. “Our window is still open.”  


The mob began to advance on the community center. They fanned out and covered the whole front of the building. A lighter was passed to the person on the end of the line. They looked like a teenager, and Kyoko could see they shook when they accepted the lighter. The flame on the lighter clicked on.  


“Come on,” Kyoko whispered.  


The teenager held the flame next to the cloth stuck in the bottle. The flame danced, just out of reach. Someone barked a curse at the teen, and they flinched. The teen looked inside the community center and saw people. From one of the windows, a child peered at the group before an adult pulled them away from the window.  


The teen swallowed and held the flame to the cloth. It caught on fire within a moment.  


Kyoko grimaced. “Go-”  


Usami blinked around the building at the same time as police sirens roared to life from the other end of the street. The sound of the incoming cars startled the teen. The lit bottle tumbled out of their fingers and plummeted to the ground.  


Usami shot forward and pulled the teen out of the small fireball that appeared when the bottle shattered against the ground. She teleported into the community center and hit the ground. The two of them slid to a stop against the reception desk.  


The teen had curled around themselves in Usami’s arms. They covered their face with their hands and wept. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”  


Usami untangled herself from the teen and knelt by their head. She stroked their hair. “Shhhh,” her echoing voice whispered. “It’s okay now. You didn’t hurt anyone.”  


“Don’t hit me,” the teen begged. “Please don’t hit me.”  


Usami continued to stroke their hair. “No one’s going to hit you. Thankfully we were able to intervene before you did something regrettable.”  


She removed her hand from their hair and pulled an arm away from their face. The frightened teen stared into Usami’s eyes and quivered.  


Usami smiled. “If you truly want to apologize, don’t hide. Look at these people. Get to know them. Reflect on what you almost tried to destroy.”  


Around them, people had begun to gather. The police sirens outside filled the room with noise and flashing lights that clashed with Usami’s glow. They stared at the magical girl and teen with guarded expressions. Usami stood and addressed the crowd. “I’m pretty sure we’ve got this under control, but if you saw anything suspicious please tell the police later. And if anyone could help this child out please do. They’ve reached that point in their life where they’ve started to have real regrets, and I think we can all sympathize with that feeling.”  


She squared her shoulders. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.”  


With a flash, she had teleported back onto the street. The police had most of the mob on the ground, and stood above them with guns drawn. A few officers ran down the 

street in the hunt for stragglers. The fire from the dropped bottle smoldered. Kyoko walked toward Usami from the corner they had hidden behind.  


Usami met her halfway. “We cut that a little close.”  


Kyoko adjusted a lock of her hair. “Perhaps. My estimation on the police’s response time seemed off. I wonder what could have caused them to take so long despite the advanced warning I gave them?”  


Usami crossed her arms. “Maybe we should just take it as a lesson about risking other people’s safety on our own intuition.”  


Kyoko looked over the group that the police had in custody instead of answering Usami’s jab. The detective frowned. “It seems some of the assailants have escaped.”  


Usami groaned. “Again? Man that’s been happening all the time lately.”  


Kyoko rose an eyebrow. “Losing touch?”  


“No,” Usami pouted. “Criminals have just gotten really slippery. Plus it always seems like there’s one that bolts the moment they see me. Before Fuyu-fuyu got his drawers in a twist they had the decency to stick around and try to fight back.”  


“With your reputation I’m surprised there’s anyone that still tries to fight you off,” Kyoko said. “Though it is strange that a normal person could slip out of your reach, considering your powers. Have you been feeling off lately?”  


Usami shook her head.  


Kyoko shrugged. “Perhaps it’s simply a coincidence. Or perhaps next time, make an extra effort to catch any fleeing suspects. The chase might reveal why you have been slipping lately.”  


Usami’s pout deepened. “Go ahead, make it sound like I’m not trying hard enough. That doesn’t hurt my feelings or anything. That’s totally something a friend would do.”  


Kyoko gave Usami a blank stare. “You know what I meant.”  


Usami sighed in a dramatic fashion. “Fine. I’ll try super duper hard instead of my normal duper hard, if it happens again. You gonna stick around? Condescend to the police about how right you were again?”  


“In a less superior fashion, yes,” Kyoko said. “Are you off to take some sort of break?”  


Usami perked up. “Actually, yeah. There’s a pretty good chance he’s at the cafe right-”  


The sound of sirens in the distance reached their ears. Usami’s shoulders fell.  


“You could just leave it to the police,” Kyoko suggested.  


“Yeah, but what if me being there makes a difference?” Usami asked. “My own affairs can wait. I just hope I’ll be able to reschedule quickly.”  


Usami leapt up into the sky and flew off in the direction of the sirens. Kyoko watched her vanish over the tops of the buildings. An officer approached the detective. “Usami always seems like she’s on a mission. Does she ever take breaks?”  


Kyoko kept her gaze where she last saw Usami. “There are no breaks on the front lines. Not for any of us.”

* * *

Three people stood outside the back door of an apartment complex. The night sky had clouded over and hid whatever natural light the city otherwise would have had. One fiddled with a lockpick while another pointed a flashlight at the door. The third hung back and kept watch.  


“Can you pick up the pace a little?” she asked the man at the door.  


“Got a date tonigh’ or something?” The man spat back at her.  


The lookout frowned. “The rabbit’s been all over lately. I don’t want some loli flavored concussion because you took too long opening a damn door.”  


The man with the lockpick cursed. “Tha rabbit this, the rabbit that. All you’ve ever talked about since you joined up is how the rabbit makes you wet your panties. How about you keep a more positive attitude, huh?”  


“How about you both shut up and focus on your work,” the man with the flashlight muttered.  


All three fell silent. After another minute, the man with the lockpick was able to jostle the door open.  


“Ha!” He exclaimed. “Easy as my brother’s ex. Now all we gotta do is find whichever of these losers might be friends with the rabbit, shake them down for some info, and maybe dice one up for good measure.”  


The doorway lead to a dim hallway, lined with doors for apartments and utilities rooms. Standing in the middle of the hallway, illuminating the whole space, was Usami. She knocked her staff against her thigh. “You know, I think that might be harder than you thought it would be.”  


The two men by the door gaped. Usami blasted the one who held the lockpick across the alleyway. As soon as the lookout saw the beam of light that propelled the man, she spun and ran down into the shadows. The man with the flashlight yelled something but the lookout continued at top speed.  


When she reached the end of the alleyway the lookout glanced over her shoulder. Usami had thrown the man with the flashlight around, and now slammed him into the ground. His flashlight spun through the air and created a strobe effect as it traveled end over end. The lookout gasped and ran out of the alleyway.  


She pushed herself to run as fast as she could while she continued to glance around her. She spotted a dumpster up against the side of a restaurant. She dug under her shirt and pulled out a thick back cloth. With no hesitation, she pulled herself into the dumpster and covered herself with the black cloth. Once in place the lookout laid still, and fought to keep her breathing to a minimum.  


Minutes ticked by, and through the cloth the lookout saw a bright light pass over her. She lay as still as a corpse until the light faded. Once darkness had settled over the dumpster, the lookout shifted and poked her head out from underneath the cloth. The immediate area was clear of life, so she hauled herself out of the trash and took off down the street at a brisk pace.  


The lookout made it just past the restaurant before the sound of something light hitting the pavement behind them caused her to look over her shoulder. Usami brushed off the edge of her skirt and smiled. “Found you.”  


The lookout tried to scream, but Usami levitated her and threw her across the street. She sailed onto the sidewalk and hit it hard enough to have the wind knocked out of her. She rolled onto her side to try and breathe easier. Usami teleported across the street and stood by the lookout. Her wings beat with restless motion.  


“That worked better than I had expected,” Usami said. “I had no idea how you Kuzuryu people kept slipping away from me. It wasn’t until someone pointed out how difficult it would be for a normal human to outpace me that I realized maybe I wasn’t being outran at all.”  


Usami pointed to the black cloth, abandoned on the other side of the street. “That was a brilliant idea, by the way. If I were as distracted as I normally am, I would have never noticed you. Is that what you all have been doing lately? Practicing your camouflage to see how easy I am to trick?”  


The lookout tried to slide away from Usami, but the magical girl used her staff to trap the lookout.  


“I wouldn’t do that,” Usami said. “If you just wait here quietly, I can get you in the back of a police car without having to rough you up anymore.”  


The lookout shook. “Please let me go.”  


Usami tilted her head. “Now why would I do that, silly?”  


The lookout swallowed. “He’ll kill me if I fail my mission.”  


Usami giggled. “Oh, don’t worry so much. Fuyu-fuyu is a bag of hot air. Anyway, he needs manpower way too much to kill you over something like a botched break and enter.”  


The lookout shook her head. “That’s not it.”  


Usami frowned. “So what am I missing?”  


The lookout ducked her head and remained silent.  


Usami sighed. “Doing that isn’t really gonna help you right now. I mean, if you want me to let you go, you need to present a story with a little more detail. And no lying, I’ve gotten really good at telling when people are lying. I can basically smell lies with my cute little nose.”  


The lookout glanced around the two of them. She looked back up at Usami. “The break-in was a cover. I had a different job. To gather information and report whatever I could back to my master.”  


Usami hummed to herself. “And what kind of information is Fuyu-fuyu so interested in he gives a secret assignment to one of his lackeys? He never seemed like the type for subterfuge.”  


The lookout glanced around again.  


Usami’s frown deepened. Her voice lost its playful edge. “You don’t work for Fuyu-fuyu, do you?”  


After a moment, the lookout shook her head.  


Usami grimaced. “The Shadowman.”  


“He’s not a man,” the lookout whispered. “The boss, the Dragon’s Tooth, the others in the clan, even me, we’re all human. But you, and that thing? You guys are monsters pretending to be human.”  


Usami huffed out a breath. “So what information are you gathering for Shadowman?”  


The lookout curled in on herself. “He watches me when no one else is around,” she rambled. “I can feel his eyes on me all the time. I can’t ever sleep because every time I close my eyes I can sense him in the room. Even when I’m with other people in the middle of the day, I catch glimpses of him in the shadows of a building, or under a bridge, or in a closed off room.”  


The lookout sobbed. “It’s been like that ever since he first came to me. He hurt me, broke me until I was on the verge of dying. I just wanted to serve the boss, but he said that wasn’t part of the plan. I was his lackey now. He’s got a bunch of us in the clan, I just know it. We do whatever dirty work he wants of us, no matter what the cost is. I feel like I’ve been marked for death.”  


Usami gritted her teeth. The light coming from her form intensified. The white and pink beams grew into dazzling rays that illuminated the entire area. Her wings outstretched, making her appear larger than before. The lookout squinted up at her and flinched back when she spoke.  


“The Shadowman isn’t invincible,” Usami said, and the echoes in her voice rang stronger than earlier. “I’ve stopped him before, and I will continue to stop him in the future. Whatever threats he’s put you under, I can undo. But only if you focus.”  


The lookout shied away from Usami’s glowing form. She looked around the illuminated area, first in fear, then in awe. She squinted back up at Usami. “He’s...he’s not here…”  


“The Shadowman is powerful,” Usami said, “but no shadow can conquer the light.”  


The lookout choked on a laugh. “Wow. That’s...I almost believe you...He’s really not here…”  


Usami smacked the end of her staff against the ground. “What information did he want?”  


The lookout took a deep breath. “Anything on you. Your behaviors. Your actions. Where and how you appeared. Whatever little things we noticed.”  


“So Shadowman is using you to spy on me?” Usami asked.  


The lookout hesitated.  


Usami leaned forward. “What else is there?”  


“He...It asked us to pay particular attention to who you talked to,” the lookout admitted. “To see who looked close to you. We were tasked with recording any information we could on these people too. Especially that detective of yours.”  


Usami froze.  


“...What?” She asked.  


The lookout nodded. “Yeah, I followed her around a few times. Trying to figure out her home address, her routine, whatever other...weaknesses she might...have…”  


The lookout paled. Usami stared at her with a wide eyed and intense glare. The magical girl levitated her into the air. “Who else is part of this information ring of the Shadowman’s?”  


“I don’t know,” the lookout said. Her words tumbled out one after another. “I could make a few guesses but I don’t know any names, no one for sure. He always had us working independently. And I don’t know what kind of info he might already have. Any time I talked to him he just listened then sent me off when I was done.”  


Usami dropped the lookout to the ground. The magical girl took a slow breath in, then exhaled. The intense light she radiated began to fade, and the lookout panicked.  


“Bring that back,” the lookout pleaded. “It’s the only thing that kept him away.”  


Usami shook her head. “I can defeat the Shadowman, but probably not before he visits you again. When he does he’ll expect a report, and I’ve already given you more than enough information. You can use our conversation for your intel.”  


The lookout shook her head. “No, but once he knows I ratted to you he’ll definitely kill me.”  


“Did he ever say he would kill you for talking to me?” Usami asked.  


The lookout paused.  


“The Shadowman isn’t one to waste resources if they still have a purpose,” Usami said. “He’ll use you until he’s satisfied he has all the information he needs, and I’ll defeat him long before he can reach that point.”  


“But...but the cops…” the lookout mumbled. “If I get locked up I can’t keep spying. He’ll dispose of me.”  


Usami sighed. She pointed down the street.  


“Start running. Now.” she said.  


The lookout looked between Usami and where she had pointed.  


“What?” Usami asked. “I’m a big fan of law and order, but I’m not going to condemn you just to stay in line with the wishes of the police. There’ll be plenty of time to serve your sentence later. And anyway, working for the Shadowman sounds like punishment enough.”  


The lookout got to her feet. When Usami remained still, the lookout spun on her heels and bolted away. The magical girl watched her disappear into the night. She glanced around her, just as the lookout had earlier. No one else was in the area.  


“I won’t lose to you,” Usami said to the darkness. In the low light from the street and Usami’s natural glow, it looked like the darkness pulsed in response.

* * *

“Yes, I was aware of the tails. I had wondered if they were connected to the fleeing suspects you’d mentioned,” Kyoko said.  


Usami stared at Kyoko. “And you didn’t tell me about the suspicious people following you because…?”  


Kyoko shrugged. “It was never relevant enough to our discussions.”  


Usami threw her hands up in the air and paced away from Kyoko. They were standing on their rooftop, in the first hours of the day. The sun still rested below the horizon, but the sky had begun to brighten. Noises of the city below beginning to wake up drifted around the two of them.The last cool winds of the night blew over the rooftop.  


Usami stalked back to Kyoko. “Isn’t this bad? This feels bad.”  


“Does it?” Kyoko asked. “Considering what Kamukura told you his goals were, it makes sense he would try to compile a list of your allies. If he has a complete picture of who is helping you, it will be easier for him to eliminate them.”  


Usami whined. “How can you be so calm about this? Who knows what kind of creepers have been, like, following you home?”  


“Where’s your usual bravado?” Kyoko asked. “Won’t you just defeat Kamukura before any of his plans can bear fruit?”  


“I can fight Kamukura,” Usami said, “but I have some advantages most other people don’t. Including you.”  


Kyoko waved Usami’s concern off. “I’ll be fine. As I’ve told you, I have contingencies in place. I can deal with whatever mundane threats the Kuzuryu or Kamukura can come up with. For anything stronger, I know how to contact you.”  


Kyoko pulled a small purple crystal out of her pocket. Usami calmed at the sight of its glow. “Just promise me you’ll keep it with you at all times,” the magical girl asked.  


“Of course,” Kyoko said. “Was this all you wanted to discuss?”  


Usami nodded.  


Kyoko brushed at her suit jacket. “Then if you’ll excuse me. I have a few leads on some of the escaped convicts from the mass breakout. If I can lead the police to them, we may be able to gather some details on how they all escaped in the first place.”  


“You mean you don’t already have an idea?” Usami asked.  


“There are several possibilities,” Kyoko said. “All of which are irrelevant without hard evidence.”  


Kyoko strode to the stairwell, opening the door and preparing to enter the building. She looked over her shoulder before she left, but Usami had vanished. The sun had peaked over the horizon, and the noises from the city had grown louder. Kyoko rubbed her eyes and closed the door behind her.

* * *

That evening, Chiaki walked down the street toward the Vorpal Mist. Her eyes were almost closed and she bumped into multiple people as she walked. She stepped off to the side of the sidewalk and gave herself a light slap to the face. After she rummaged in one of her hoodie’s large pockets, she pulled out a handheld gaming system and loaded up the most recent game.  


A giant, blue, winged creature filled up her screen and roared. Her avatar was dressed in a full suit of armor and wielded a sword twice their own size. Chiaki frowned at the image and muttered “Too easy.”  


She pressed some buttons, and her avatar had their armor removed, with the sword exchanged for a dagger strapped to their waist. The avatar quaked in fear when the winged creature roared again.  


Chiaki nodded to herself. “Better.”  


She began her trek to the Vorpal Mist again. Along the way she guided her avatar through the battle of its existence, making them do superhuman flips and rolls to avoid the swiping claws and tail of the winged creature. The avatar cut at the winged creature’s ankles a hundred times, but it never ceased its endless barrage of attacks. With time the winged creature had Chiaki’s avatar trapped between it and the drop of a canyon.  


Chiaki input the commands to make her avatar leap into the canyon. Her avatar’s scream was cut off as the game loaded, and when it resumed her avatar fell onto a web of vines, then tumbled into a pool of water with no visible injuries. The gamer smiled and glanced up at where she was going. The Vorpal Mist was close enough that Chiaki could see the people inside. A quick scan of the tables revealed no one she recognized, and Chiaki deflated.  


She paused her game and slipped the system back into her pocket. Her eyes began to slide shut again and she fought a yawn. Chiaki shuffled into the cafe. Once she crossed the threshold, she swayed and fell against the door.  


Her breath caught and her eyes snapped open. She gripped her chest and fought to inhale. After a moment she succeeded, and took in shuddering gasps. Chiaki ignored the looks from the people around her, stumbled back out of the Vorpal Mist, and rushed down the street.  


Chiaki dodged around the other pedestrians, and ducked into the first alleyway she passed. She glanced around and saw no one up or down the thin space between buildings. In the clear, Chiaki ran straight at the side of one of the buildings. She glowed, and began to jump straight up the wall. Halfway to the roof, light wrapped around her.  


Magical Girl Usami leapt up onto the rooftop and teleported across the buildings. When she was far enough away from the place she had transformed, she stretched out her wings and soared into the air. The evening sun had begun to dip below the horizon, and the light was fading from the sky. Usami’s speed increased, and she left a trail of light in her wake.  


She crossed most of the city in a handful of minutes, and crashed down in a half-full parking lot. Usami looked around and found a car with a slashed tire. One of the side mirrors had been bent away from the vehicle. A deep cut was in the hood of the car by the driver side door. Usami’s eyes traveled over the damaged vehicle, to the ground.  


Lying next to the car was Kyoko’s purple crystal, shattered.  


“Kiri…” Usami whined. Her hands shook as she picked up the crystal. Once she had touched the fragments, they melted into light and vanished. Usami straightened up and looked around again.  


“Okay...think, Usami,” she whispered to herself. “There’s a cut in the hood. The mirror’s broken. The crystal was shattered. It all fits together somehow.”  


Usami stared into the window of the car. Her reflection shined back at her. Usami gasped. She glanced down and saw her foot was right next to where the crystal fragments had been. She could also reach out and bend the side mirror with her hand.  


“Kiri, you smart cookie,” Usami said.  


The magical girl looked up and saw the mirror was pointing in the general direction of an alleyway. Usami teleported over to the alleyway and investigated. Kyoko’s notebook lay on the ground. Usami picked it up and then teleported down the alleyway. At the halfway point the alleyway met with another path and Usami found herself at a fork.  


Usami looked both ways. One way lead out to a street, while the other lead to more alleyways but was blocked off by a chainlink fence. A detail on the fence caught Usami’s attention and she teleported to it. Upon closer inspection, a section of the fence appeared to have been cut. A few lavender colored hairs were caught among the links, and fresh blood dripped onto the ground.  


Usami blasted through the fence and zoomed down the alleyway. At the end of the alley, some blood wrapped around one of the corners so Usami chose to turn that direction and continue flying. A back door had been hacked down, and Usami poked her head in to find a kitchen had been destroyed. The table was in pieces, and the dishes had been thrown about. A window that lead back out onto the street had been shattered, and Usami teleported to the other side.  


She followed the street away from the destroyed kitchen, until she reached another fork. When she looked around, there were no visual cues or signs of destruction to point her in a direction. Usami swallowed and stilled her breathing. She closed her eyes, and the ears on her rabbit mask twitched in a direction.  


She opened her eyes, launched into the sky, and flew over buildings. Her path was a direct line in the direction her mask had pointed. Two blocks away, Usami saw a drainage pipe that had been sliced apart at the base, and one figure chasing another around the enclosed space between the buildings.  


Usami dived toward them. The magical girl slammed down between the figures and blasted the attacker away. She turned to the person who had been running. Battered and bloodied, the runner slumped against the closest wall and slid to the ground. Her sides heaved breaths in and out, and she shook with adrenaline.  


“Kiri,” Usami sobbed.  


The detective smirked up at Usami. “Perfect timing. Would you mind finishing this battle for me?”  


Behind Usami, the attacker picked herself up off the ground. A white suit wrapped around her limber body, and silver shoes covered her feet. Her silver hair was tied into a bun and pressed against the back of her head. She wore an ornate mask, bone white, of a roaring dragon. In her hands was a katana with a handle that twisted around her wrist.  


“Dragon’s Tooth,” Usami said. “I was wondering how long it was going to take for Fuyu-fuyu to send out his pet killer.”  


“Fuyuhiko...didn’t send her,” Kyoko said between pants. “The Kuzuryu..aren’t the ones who...have been collecting information...on our behaviors.”  


Kyoko rose her voice. “What kind of weapon has two wielders, assassin? Does your master know that you take orders from the Shadowman?”  


The Dragon’s Tooth stepped forward, and Usami matched her. The magical girl began to glow brighter.  


“Walk away,” her echo commanded down the alley.  


The Dragon’s Tooth paused, and took a stance. Before Usami’s eyes, the katana shimmered. The end of the handle sharpened and plunged into the assassin’s wrist. The silver of the blade’s steel darkened to and off-yellow. The hand guard fused with the thumb and first finger on her hand, and the other three fingers melded together. Her entire arm rolled, as lumps below her skin travelled to the sword.  


In a moment, the sword had transformed from a regular katana to a longer blade, made of serrated bone. A web of blood vessels covered the back of the blade. With a snap and a pop, the handle grew long enough for the assassin to hold it with her unmutilated hand. She squared her shoulders and pointed the tip of the blade at Usami’s head.  


Usami twirled her staff. “If you insist.”  


The Dragon’s Tooth dashed toward Usami, fast enough that her form blurred. She slashed at Usami’s torso, but the magical girl blocked the attack with her staff. The serrated edge dug into the staff and caught. The Dragon’s Tooth twisted and pulled the blade towards herself, which sawed through the rest of the staff and released the weapon.  


Usami let the two halves of her staff fall to the ground. She tucked into herself and spun, stretched her wings out, and attempted to bludgeon The Dragon’s Tooth. The assassin jumped back to avoid the wings, but failed to dodge the feathers Usami launched afterwards. Half a dozen shafts of light imbedded themselves into the assassin. She looked at them and then ripped them out with one hand, unfazed by the attack or the small burns left behind.  


The Dragon’s Tooth leapt straight toward Usami, blade pointed at the magical girl. Usami teleported out of the way, so the assassin stopped her attack and used her momentum to pivot. She brought the blade over her head and swung it down in an arc straight at Kyoko’s head. The detective threw herself off the wall in an attempt to escape harm.  


Before the blade could cleave Kyoko in half, The Dragon’s Tooth was lifted off her feet and thrown across the alleyway. Usami hovered in the air, a new staff formed in her hand and pointed at the assassin. She released a blast of light that collided with The Dragon’s Tooth just before she hit the ground, and Usami watched as her body skipped down across the concrete.  


The Dragon’s Tooth plunged her sword into the ground, which pierced through the pavement and slowed her tumble. Once she was still, she got onto her hands and knees and trembled. More lumps shifted beneath her skin. She glared up at Usami, and used the sword to launch herself at the magical girl. She moved even faster than before, and just as Usami teleported away she lashed out with her blade. It elongated as she sliced, and caught Usami in the upper arm.  


Usami teleported to the ground, caught The Dragon’s Tooth out of the air with her staff, and brought her crashing down. The gash in her arm was deep, and small waves of light shined from the wound. Her choker released three orbs of light, which floated over to The Dragon’s Tooth. As the assassin stood, they made a triangle shape and exploded.  


The Dragon’s Tooth stumbled out of the explosion of light and fell against a wall. She focused in on Usami. She groaned as her body convulsed, and the serrated edge of the blade buzzed as the teeth vibrated. The assassin sprinted at Usami.  


Her gaze locked onto the magical girl, she failed to notice Kyoko shift. The detective pulled a small device out of one pocket and fired it across the alleyway. A thin rope lodged itself in the opposite wall, just below knee level. The Dragon’s Tooth ran, full speed, into the trip wire and tumbled to the ground. Within a moment she bounced back to her feet and slashed at Kyoko.  


Usami appeared above Kyoko and teleported the detective out of harm’s way. She set Kyoko at the end of the alleyway. “I’d recommend closing your eyes,” she said.  


The magical girl stepped towards the assassin. The Dragon’s Tooth leapt onto the wall and began jumping between the sides of the alleyway, charging through the air towards Usami and Kyoko. Usami took her staff in both hands and held it parallel to the ground, her body in a square stance. Her glow intensified to levels so bright the Dragon’s Tooth had to force their eyes open. “It’s been awhile since I used this. It’ll probably sting,” Usami said.  


A pink heart appeared on the ground below Usami’s feet. Her staff expanded in her hand, turning into an amorphous, rainbow-colored, spear. She twirled the spear in her hand, aimed, and launched it at The Dragon’s Tooth just as the assassin leapt at her. It impaled her through the torso and pinned her back against the wall. Ribbons of light stripped off the spear and wrapped around the Dragon’s Tooth until she was covered in a web. The web brightened, and seared the assassin with white light.  


Usami took a deep breath. “Soul Spear, opening act: Revelation.”  


With a snap, the web tightened around The Dragon’s Tooth. She screamed, then fell silent. The web released her, and the spear vanished. Her body dropped to the ground. Just before she hit the pavement, Usami caught her with her staff. The assassin was lowered to the ground and left to rest. The sword pulsed and creaked, shifting from bone and blood back to steel. The assassin’s hand reverted back to normal, and the sword handle pulled itself out of her wrist.  


Usami looked over the unconscious woman, who looked so frail now, and sighed. She turned around to check up on Kyoko, and left the assassin in the alleyway.  


The detective had her eyes closed and was taking even breaths. “The Revelation Spear was overkill,” she said as Usami approached.  


Usami shrugged. “It’s my anti-Kamukura skill. I need to practice it somehow.”  


“He’s brushed it aside before,” Kyoko said.  


Usami shrugged again. “Revelation is the Soul Spear’s weakest form. I keep the stronger stuff hidden, in the hopes that I’ll catch him by surprise when I show its true form.”  


She knelt by the detective and looked her wounds over. “Those cuts are deep. I’ll get you to the hospital.”  


“That would be appreciated,” Kyoko said.  


Usami levitated Kyoko, who winced when she was lifted but otherwise remained passive. Usami flew off toward the nearest hospital. She kept her gaze forward as her wings beat. Kyoko examined her expression. The detective glanced at the wound on Usami’s arm. Light still emanated from it.  


“Will that wound be alright if you leave it alone?” Kyoko asked.  


Usami shrugged with one shoulder.  


The detective stared at Usami. “Something is bothering you.”  


Usami nodded.  


Kyoko rose an eyebrow. “Would you like to share?”  


Usami remained silent.  


Kyoko sighed and chose not to press the issue. “Out of curiousity, did you sense the sword’s energy, or did you find us with the trail I left you?”  


“Trail,” Usami said. “You broke the crystal on purpose, knowing I would sense its destruction. Which is not how that crystal is supposed to be used.”  


“It fulfilled its purpose,” Kyoko said.  


When the arrived at the hospital Usami set Kyoko by the emergency room. “Will you be able to handle the paperwork and police report on your own?” Usami asked.  


Kyoko nodded. “Are you going back for the Dragon’s Tooth?”  


“I’ll try,” Usami said, “but the Kuzuryu have probably already recovered her. Or Kamukura. Whoever she’s working for now.”  


Usami began to walk away, but paused. She turned back to Kyoko and handed her the abandoned notebook. “You...might not see it this way, but the fact is I knew you were a target, and I left you unguarded. Your injuries are my fault, and I take responsibility for that. I’ve relied on you too much, and that’s what lead to tonight. If something happened because you helped me, I…”  


“Usami,” Kyoko said, with a frown, “Don’t use tonight as an excuse to cut me out of the loop. Don’t let your guilt cloud your judgement.”  


Usami tilted her head. “...I won’t endanger you like this again.”  


She created a flash of light to get the attention of the personnel inside, then flew up into the sky. Kyoko pressed her lips into a thin line and glared after the retreating magical girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go. A few more players have entered the metaphorical game. I'm a little proud of the Dragon's Tooth. Her fight scene turned out way better than I expected it to. Even if she did hospitalize one of my favorite characters...
> 
> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Any comments, kudos, bookmarks, or subscriptions are appreciated. See you next update.


	4. Battle with the Dragon, Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chiaki struggles with the moral conflicts presented by her attempts to help Kyoko and Hajime.

Kyoko sat in a hospital bed and wrote in her notebook. The light from outside filled the sterile room. The detective paused to stretch and winced. One hand drifted to her side for a moment before she continued to write.  


Across the street, Usami watched the detective from a rooftop. The magical girl had her legs pulled up against her chest and rested her chin on her knees. The cool wind ruffled her feathers and tousled her hair, but she made no attempt to move from her perch. Her eyes scanned the street below, then drifted up to Kyoko’s room, and then went back to the street.  


Sirens roared in the distance, and Usami began to stand. She hesitated, her gaze fixed on Kyoko. After a moment she sat back down and pulled her knees against her tighter. Even after the sirens were quiet she remained tense. She scratched at the rooftop with her staff.  


On the street, someone stumbled into the lobby of the hospital. Usami tilted her head and stood. She jumped off the rooftop and fell for a few stories before her wings stretched out and she swooped down. Just before she reached the street she folded her wings in and teleported to the ground. Usami landed without a sound and slipped into the hospital.  


The man wore a ripped up overcoat, covered in stains and dirt. He bumped into one of the chairs in the lobby. He drew attention as he made his way toward the desk. The receptionist he slumped in front of struggled not to wrinkle her nose.  


“Hey,” he slurred, “Did tha’ beau’iful bunny drop someone off here a few days ago?”  


The receptionist cleared her throat. “Are you looking for someone, sir?”  


The man nodded. “My sibling.”  


“I see,” the receptionist said. “Do you have any descriptive details we could use to identify them?”  


The man leaned closer. “They were wi’h ‘he rabbi’.”  


The receptionist frowned. “Anything else? Their age, size, sex, what they might have been wearing? Their name, perhaps?”  


The man’s expression darkened. “You know who I’m talking about,” he said, quiet and clear. “My boss wants a few words with them. He’s a great guy, supports this little shitshow you work at. If I leave here empty handed, you’ll pay in the long run.”  


The receptionist crossed her hands. “I’m sorry to say that I can’t help you. And that how you leave this hospital is out of my hands.”  


She nodded behind the man. When the man continued to stare at the receptionist, Usami put her hand on his shoulder. “Aw, come on. At least play along.”  


He brought his elbow up and tried to hit Usami in the face, but she stepped to the side and tripped him. As he fell, she levitated him into the air so he was hanging upside down. He yelled and struggled, but nothing stopped Usami. She brought him back out onto the curb and dropped him.  


The man tried to get to his feet, but Usami wrapped him up in beams of light and pushed him back onto his side. “I’m really sorry,” she said, “but I’m not in the mood to bludgeon you into submission. Can you, just...stay there? Please?”  


She tightened the bands of light until the man could just breathe, then poked her head back into the hospital. “Hey? Could you-”  


The receptionist pulled her phone away from her mouth. “Already on it,” she said.  


Usami ducked her head. “Oops. Sorry, thanks.”  


The receptionist waved her off. “Don’t apologize. You’ve been keeping the block peaceful, like some guardian angel. Been a long time since I’ve seen these yakuza dogs so restrained. You just keep making people safe. It’s good work.”  


Usami flashed a strained smile. “Yeah, will do.”  


She stepped back outside, and the man chuckled.  


“Oooh, Usami,” the man said in a fake high pitched voice, “thank you for watching over our lowly asses while the evil yakuza run wild everywhere else. I’m so glad you’re wasting your time here instead of helping the cops. I’m sure they’ll catch all those nasty escaped convicts on their own.”  


The man spat in Usami’s direction. The magical girl ignored him. She teleported and flew back up to her perch. Time passed and Usami kept an eye on Kyoko or the street below. The police arrived and stuck the man into their car. A while later, more sirens blared in the distance.  


Usami buried her head in her knees. “I can’t just leave her,” she cried to herself.  


The wind had no effect on Usami, but she shivered regardless.

* * *

Hajime sat alone at a table in the Vorpal Mist. He sipped on a paper cup of water and stared out a window. His clothes were clean yet also wrinkled. Dark circles under his eyes and light stubble gave his expression a haunted look.  


Chiaki sat down in the chair across from him. “Hey there.”  


Hajime slid his gaze to her. “Hey.”  


“Sorry I haven’t been able to make it lately,” she said. “I’ve-”  


“Been tied up,” Hajime finished for her. “I caught your updates online. How’s your cousin?”  


Chiaki frowned. “Stable. Conscious. The police are taking a statement from her right now.”  


“I hope they catch whoever attacked her,” Hajime said.  


“Me too,” Chiaki said. She glanced Hajime over. Her eyes settled on his drink.  


“Just water today?” She asked.  


Hajime took a sip. “Yup.”  


Chiaki’s frown deepened. “Still searching for a job?”  


Hajime hummed in affirmation.  


A silence stretched between them. Chiaki adjusted in her seat. She winced and rubbed at her upper arm. Hajime glanced at her. “Are you alright?”  


Chiaki nodded. “I tripped and fell yesterday. It ended up leaving a bruise. I didn’t think it was still going to be sore.”  


“I’m sorry to hear that,” Hajime said. “While you were at the hospital, did you have anyone look at it? Just in case it’s worse than a bruise?”  


Chiaki shook her head. “It isn’t that big of a deal to me. Just a little annoying.”  


“I see,” Hajime said.  


The conversation stalled again. Hajime turned his gaze back to the outside. Chiaki swirled her drink and took some sips.  


After a few minutes, she said “I don’t understand why no one is hiring you. From what you’ve told me, you’ve applied to many jobs. How can none of them want someone as dedicated as you?”  


Hajime gave a quiet, mirthless chuckle. “Well, they probably don’t see me as dedicated. It’s hard to promise someone you’ll show up to work every day and on time when you’ve been fired from your three previous positions.”  


He took another drink. “Job hunting is tricky when you have my background. I might have experience with a bunch of different fields, but without references all I have to go on is my word. And I can’t exactly use many of my previous jobs as references, since they all ended on poor notes. Even if I did that would invite whoever is interviewing me to ask why I’ve had so many jobs the past few years. Believe it or not, employers aren’t thrilled with the idea of hiring someone who might walk away without warning in three months.”  


Chiaki rubbed at her eyes. “...So no one is willing to give you the benefit of the doubt? A chance to prove yourself?”  


“Not yet,” Hajime said.  


“That’s...disappointing,” Chiaki said.  


Hajime shrugged. “Yeah, it sucks. I don’t think it would be entirely fair to blame them though. From their perspective, I’m an unknown with a checkered background. What if they hire me and I walk out during a busy moment for their business? What if I ruin their credibility? What if I do a bad job, or steal something?”  


His lips twisted into a bitter smile. “I’d be the first person to say I’m an unreliable worker, with my memory issues.”  


“But that’s not your fault...right?” Chiaki asked. “You can’t control that.”  


Hajime shook his head. “If I could control it, I’d make it stop,” he said. “But what does it matter, whether or not it’s voluntary? The bigger question is, what employer would want an employee who vanishes with no warning?”  


He sighed. “I can imagine this is why people turn to crime. A need for money and no legitimate way to earn it.”  


Chiaki tensed. “I think that’s a little random.”  


“Is it?” Hajime asked. “Sorry, crime has just been on my mind a lot lately.”  


He noticed Chiaki’s expression and held up his hands. “Wait, that came out wrong. I should probably explain.”  


“Probably,” Chiaki agreed.  


“I was applying at another bartending job the other day,” Hajime said, “and I mentioned the old bar I used to work at. The one that got vandalized?”  


Chiaki nodded.  


Hajime scratched at his face. “So...apparently it was a yakuza joint. Like, anyone who had an ear to the ground would have known about the criminal ties in that place. Once the person interviewing me heard I’d worked for the yakuza, I was rushed out and told not to come back.”  


“Wow,” Chiaki deadpanned. “Hinajime00, the mobster.”  


Hajime scowled. “I just poured drinks. It’s not like I knew the money was going to criminals.”  


Chiaki tilted her head. “So, you had no clue? Nothing ever happened that you thought was...suspicious?”  


Hajime shrugged. “I guess? There was a lot about that job that was weird. I got it because someone bumped into me and spilled a drink down my shirt. I was never allowed to go into the back, even if we needed to stock something. Sometimes I heard yelling but everyone else ignored it.”  


“Did you ever think about calling the police when you heard the yelling?” Chiaki asked.  


After a moment, Hajime shook his head. “It seemed like a regular occurrence, and since no one else reacted I started to think it must not have been a big deal. And…”  


“...And?” Chiaki prompted.  


“...And it was a paycheck,” Hajime said. “Even a completely legitimate employer wouldn’t appreciate a grunt trying to whistleblow. I didn’t want to lose my income over something that at the time seemed commonplace.”  


He shifted in his seat. “Though now I’m worried. Did someone get hurt because I didn’t speak up? Could I have stopped a crime by alerting the police? Or would my warning have fallen on deaf ears?”  


“I think there’s always someone looking to make the city a better place,” Chiaki said. “If you ever call for help, it’ll be taken seriously.”  


“I dunno,” Hajime said. “There’s so much crime in Hope’s Peak. Everything from the mob to purse snatching. Aren’t we like number one in the country on every crime stat?”  


“Not all of them,” Chiaki said. “...But most. Things have improved since Monokuma was defeated though. Public order is at a decade high.”  


Hajime nodded. “That’s true. I still have nightmares about that teddy bear, and the riots.”  


Chiaki looked into her cup. “...Me too. But there are many people in the city trying to make a difference. They’re the reason we all have been able to rebuild after Monokuma’s tyranny.”  


“Yeah, it’s a good thing Usami showed up. The city needed a hero after the Graduates collapsed.” Hajime said.  


Chiaki frowned. “I wasn’t talking about just the supers.”  


“But without them, none of this would be possible,” Hajime said. “The people can live safely because of superheroes. Criminals can operate so freely because of supervillains. Success in Hope’s Peak is all about how close you are to a super. I guess that’s another point for joining the underworld. They hire more lackeys than the superheroes.”  


“Does that success outweigh the legal backlash, though?” Chiaki asked.  


“Maybe,” Hajime said. “Depending on what kind of crime you do. If it brings in enough money that you can afford your home? That you can feed yourself? That you have a social circle that will keep you safe?”  


“At the cost of taking those things away from others,” Chiaki interjected. “Isn’t that what crime is? Taking something that someone else has earned for yourself?”  


Hajime shrugged. “Maybe they don’t need it as much as you do.”  


“...That kind of rationale can easily become a slippery slope,” Chiaki said. “I think people get distracted by their own problems and don’t realize the suffering others might be experiencing. They get so caught up in their pride that rather than asking for help from the government or anyone else they choose to victimize someone.”  


Hajime’s mouth twitched. “So what about people like me? I don’t have anyone who can support me and I doubt welfare is going to cover enough. What do I do?”  


Chiaki paused. “I could help.”  


Hajime stared at her. Silence stretched between them.  


“That...that’s not why I said that,” Hajime said.  


“I know,” Chiaki said, “but the offer is still there.”  


“I don’t think your streaming career could support the both of us for very long,” Hajime said.  


“I’d find a way to make it work, until you could find a job,” Chiaki said.  


Hajime gave another humorless smile. “And what if I can’t find one you approve of?”  


“I think you can,” Chiaki said. “And I think you will. I would rather support that then stand by and watch you turn to crime.”  


Hajime finished his drink. “I guess I don’t see it working out like that. I’ve held you up long enough today, though. I need to hit the streets anyway, see if anyone at all is hiring.”  


He stood up from his chair. Before he could walk away, Chiaki rose as well.  


“Hinata,” she said.  


The man froze and gave a surprised twitch at the use of his name. “Uh...yeah?”  


“...If things get any worse, would you turn to crime? Or would you ask me for help?” Chiaki asked.  


Hajime’s expression fell at her question. He sighed. “I’d like to say I would swallow the last of my pride and ask you for help. But that answer might change when I’m about to be evicted, or when I’m hungry and can’t afford fast food. The moral conflict crime presents would have to feel better than this overwhelming sense of failure.”  


Chiaki tried to say something, but Hajime waved it aside. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll get my situation figured out.”  


He walked away, and crushed the cup in his hand. As he left he tossed it into the garbage. Chiaki slumped back into her chair and sipped at her lukewarm drink. Her hand drifted up to her arm again and she rubbed at the injury. She finished her drink in silence and left the Vorpal Mist, her head bowed and shoulders slumped.

* * *

Usami sat on the roof that overlooked the hospital. Kyoko’s room light was on, and she was writing in her notebook. She would pause, and think, then write more. Outside, the hospital had experienced a quiet night so far. Usami had remained vigilant at her perch for hours despite the sirens she heard from time to time.  


The first thing to grab her attention was the ambulance. It sped into the hospital’s drop off, where the emergency responders unloaded a single gurney and rushed a person into the hospital. Usami looked down at the person and gasped.  


Usami threw herself off the rooftop and swooped down. The doors to the emergency room swung shut, so Usami teleported into the building and stopped next to the gurney. The nurses jumped in surprise, before the senior nurse said “Usami, we need space. Back off.”  


Usami ignored the nurse and trailed behind as they rushed down the halls into an operating room. She stared at the woman on the gurney, whose unconscious body struggled to take in air and also keep blood from pouring out of the wounds in her stomach. The word traitor had been carved into her face.  


The magical girl chose not to teleport into the operating room where they tried to save the woman’s life. She sat outside, and tapped her staff against her leg.  


“Rabbit? I’m surprised to see you here.”  


Usami looked up and saw a pair of police detectives. One of them glared at Usami and remained silent, while the other approached and said in a professional tone “Are you connected to that victim in any way?”  


“What happened to her?” Usami asked.  


The detective adjusted his coat. “I’m the one asking questions.”  


Usami frowned. “I’ve run into her before. Caught her trying to break into an apartment about a week ago.”  


The detective nodded. He sat down next to Usami and gave her a significant look. “We responded to a call about an armed altercation and found the victim on the scene, in critical condition. Do you know any significant details about the victim?”  


Usami tilted her head. “Why are you look-Oh...we’re doing a question for question deal. Okay. Um, yeah, she works for the Kuzuryu but also is an informant for the Shadowman. Do you have any leads on who attacked her?”  


“You just gave me one,” the detective said. “What were the circumstances of your meeting with the victim?”  


Usami continued to frown. “Like I said, I caught her trying to break into an apartment building recently, with some other Kuzuryu thugs. I stopped them, and she traded some information for her freedom. Do you have any clues that could point you to the people that hurt her?”  


The detective shook his head. “When we found her, it looked like she’d been there for some time. I think whoever placed the call wanted us to find a body, not a brawl. So the victim gave you information and then you let them walk free?”  


Usami nodded. “She seemed to think that unless she reported back to the Shadowman, she was going to die. I believed her. There wasn’t any kind of evidence on the scene?”  


“Nope,” the detective said. “Have you told anyone about this encounter you had with the victim before now? Was there a chance someone witnessed it?”  


“We were alone,” Usami said. “Where did you find her?”  


“A few blocks away. There are some officers still on the scene,” the detective said. “If you hurry, you might catch something we couldn’t.”  


The other detective bristled. “Sir, she would compromise the scene.”  


The first detective shrugged. “I have other worries right now. Like making it to the end of the month alive.”  


He looked at Usami. “You be careful too, rabbit. Seems the Kuzuryu are following up on that video they sent us. Their boss won’t stop until you, the Shadowman, and a hell of a lot of cops are dead.”  


“How are you all holding up?” Usami asked.  


The detective chuckled. “We’re men, not robots. Have a target painted on your back all the time and you get jaded. Most of the younger guys on the force are post-riots; they aren’t used to the feeling of being hunted. They’re making stupid mistakes. A few of them are getting killed, and the rest are cracking. It’s probably a good thing the Kuzuryu are ripping their side of the world apart as much as they are, otherwise we would have pandemonium in the streets.”  


He rubbed at his face. “It’s hard as it is keeping the peace without this crazy shit. And it’s only been two weeks since the Kuzuryu began running wild. Who knows how out of control the crimes will get before this is all over.”  


The detective nodded at his partner. “He just got back from investigating a car bombing. The headmaster of Hope’s Peak Academy, of all people. We think the Kuzuryu might have done it. It’s like they’re trying to start up the mutual killing mess again.”  


“It won’t get to that point,” Usami said. “We’ll stop it.”  


The operating doors opened. A doctor stepped out. He looked at Usami and the detective and shook his head. The detective swore under his breath, and Usami’s wings drooped. They both stood and walked over to the doctor. The other detective looked like he was going to say something to Usami but held his tongue and followed.  


“How’d she die?” The detective asked the doctor.  


The doctor frowned. “There were multiple stab wounds into her abdominal region. She experienced massive internal bleeding. Her organs had been almost liquified, like someone had whisked them together.”  


The detective rose his eyebrows. “Is that connected to the stab wounds?”  


The doctor shrugged. “There are no other external injuries on her body recent enough to be considered, unless whoever cut into her face somehow did it.”  


“If whatever stabbed her was buzzing, like a chainsaw, could it have damaged her organs like that?” Usami asked.  


The doctor swallowed. “Perhaps. The stab wounds are more in line with a blade of some sort though-”  


“Like a sword?” Usami asked.  


The doctor nodded.  


The detective gave Usami a sidelong glance. “There weren’t any blood or guts on the scene. The buzzsword would have sprayed tissue everywhere, right?”  


Usami shook her head. “Not if the sword absorbed it. It does that to gain extra power.”  


The doctor paled. “This sword is real?”  


The detective swore again.  


“Don’t have anyone look for her,” Usami said. “Right now she’s unstoppable by normal means. I’ll track her down.”  


The detective nodded. “What do you need from us?”  


“Sir!” The other detective protested.  


Usami ignored him. “There’s someone in this hospital who is targeted by the Kuzuryu. Kirigiri Kyoko. Can you keep an eye on her while I’m gone?”  


The younger detective’s brow furrowed. “Kirigiri?” he muttered. “Hold on…”  


The older detective ignored his partner’s mutters, and nodded to Usami again. “Go bring that bitch down.”  


Usami flashed a thumbs up and teleported out of the hallway.

* * *

The magical girl landed on the corner of a sidewalk. Two police cars were parked at either side of the corner, and the night spun with their strobing lights. Officers combed the area, though their pace was slow and their expressions disgruntled. When they noticed Usami their looks went from bad to worse, but no one approached her.  


Usami waved at a few of them. “Hello there!”  


The officers remained silent. Usami’s hand fell back to her side.  


“Okay then,” she said. She glanced around the area. “I’ll just...be here for a bit. Don’t mind me.”  


Usami squared her shoulders and evened her breathing. Her eyes slid shut. The ears on her mask twitched. After a moment, one ear pointed at a diagonal.  


Usami straightened the ear out with her hand and nodded to herself.  


“Alright, have a good night everyone!” She called out, and then leapt into the air. She flew in the direction her ear had pointed, away from the apartment buildings, entertainment venues, and emergency services of the city. She glided through the night sky, toward a darker section of Hope’s Peak. Soon the ground below her was decorated with storage containers, construction equipment, and piles of raw materials.  


The industrial section of Hope’s Peak was not lit well, an abyss of shadows compared to the residences or business districts. Usami’s natural glow disturbed the dark blue haze that seemed to cling all around, a spotlight in the night that created a beacon but also intensified the shadows just outside her aura.  


Usami looked where she flew. “Hey, I remember here. Hopefully things go better this time.”  


She landed in front of the derelict subway line. Her ears flicked toward the entrance, so she tugged them back into place. Before she descended, she looked over her shoulder. The shadows were thick enough that she could not see if anyone else was hiding in the area.  


Usami entered the derelict subway line. What little light the moon had provided outside stopped at the entrance, and Usami was soon the lone source. She walked down the stairs, toward the barren tunnel. At the base of the stairs, she stopped.  


The stairs opened up to a sizeable platform where passengers would have waited for trains to come out of the dark tunnel that stretched next to the platform. A group of Kuzuryu thugs stood at the center of the platform, armed with guns and flashlights. The Dragon’s Tooth knelt in their center, her sword transformed into its blood and bone form. Compared to the last time the assassin had appeared before Usami, the sword was thicker and the web of blood vessels was larger. When Usami stepped into view, the blade twitched.  


The thugs pointed their weapons at Usami. The magical girl showed no reaction. Her gaze was fixed on The Dragon’s Tooth. “You were way easier to find this time. As a professional criticism, maybe work harder on hiding your presence? If you sit there all tense, your dark energy is just going to keep gushing out.”  


The Dragon’s Tooth stood. The sword bent itself then straightened back out.  


“Another helpful tip,” Usami said. “Maybe don’t be so gluttonous? Absorbing all that extra blood and stuff can’t be good for your diet. Fuyu-fuyu’s orders shouldn’t come at the cost of your health. Or did the Shadowman order you to do this too? I have trouble keeping track of who you work for nowadays.”  


The Dragon’s Tooth took a stance. Usami frowned. In a quieter voice she asked “Why did you kill her?”  


One of the thugs stepped forward. “Our boss has declared war on you and Shadowman. That means we kill you both, and anyone who helps you monsters.”  


Usami twirled her staff and squared her shoulders. “Not if I stop you.”  


The thug chuckled. “Like you stopped us from killing that traitor? Like you kept your detective friend from getting hurt?”  


Usami gritted her teeth. The ears on her mask twitched. She alone heard The Dragon’s Tooth speak. Her voice came out in a graveled slur.  


“If you want to stop us, you’ll have to kill us.”  


The thugs opened fire. Usami’s body twitched as each of the bullets slammed into her. The Dragon’s Tooth ducked low and charged. The serrated edge of the blade fanned wide when the assassin swung for Usami’s side. Usami leaned back and attempted to teleport. The moment before she vanished, the blade whipped forward and nicked the side of her dress.  


Usami blinked into the tunnel. A trickle of light shined out from the cut in her dress. She swung her staff in arcs toward the group of thugs. Each swing released a wave of light that knocked one of two people over. The gunfire became sporadic as some thugs stopped firing, while others tried to aim at Usami. The thug that had spoken now yelled at the rest of the group to organize them.  


Usami aimed a blast at him, but instead teleported to avoid another leap attack from The Dragon’s Tooth. The assassin soared through the space Usami had just occupied, slammed into the opposite wall, and then kicked off before gravity could pull her down. The assassin spotted Usami’s new location, then stabbed her blade into the ceiling. The blade caught between the old bricks, and The Dragon’s Tooth was yanked by momentum like a ragdoll before she could get her feet against the roof and shoot toward Usami.  


The magical girl blasted The Dragon’s Tooth back just before the assassin was within reach. Usami watched her tumble through the air for a moment, before her body trembled and spun itself. Usami pointed her staff at the assassin. She froze in mid air, locked in a simple cage of light and unable to continue whatever she had been doing. Before Usami could capitalize on this chance, the thugs opened fire. Their coordinated shots rained down on Usami, which broke her concentration.  


The blade twisted and cut at the light bindings, and The Dragon’s Tooth dropped to the floor. She shuddered and raced up the dark tunnel. Her movements had grown fast enough that she appeared blurred to the human eye. The hail of bullets caused her no hesitation as she lunged toward Usami.  


Usami batted the blade away with her staff and teleported up. Her wings beat once, and then the feathers began to glow. They launched out of her wings, each group of feathers locked onto a different thug. The thugs tried to duck or run, but the feathers followed them. The shards of light ripped into the Kuzuryu members, and caused them to collapse with the wind knocked out of them. They lay on the platform, covered in small burns.  


Usami’s wings continued to beat with no effect. She fell back to the ground, right into a slice from The Dragon’s Tooth. The slice was aimed at Usami’s thigh, but the magical girl stretched one featherless wing down to intercept the attack. The blade caught in the light shaft, and with a buzz chewed through it. The end of the wing fell off and disappeared, while the blade opened small pores and sucked in. After a moment, the blade twisted and let out a hiss.  


Usami attempted to grab The Dragon’s Tooth with her staff again. The assassin darted to the side and came at Usami. Usami took a step back and sent out a wave of light. The assassin ducked the wave and pressed in. Usami took another half dozen steps back, each step punctuated by a blast of light. Once she was done, she teleported back onto the platform.  


Her breaths were heavier than before, but Usami fought to stay quiet as she stared into the darkness. Her mask’s ears twitched, and a quiet groan came out of the darkness. Usami brought her staff up and held it across her body with both hands. The sound of bricks falling came from Usami’s left. She twitched, tensed, and then danced to her right just in time to avoid a downward strike from The Dragon’s Tooth.  


The assassin dropped from the ceiling, and landed in a crouch when her attack missed. She recovered and was about to lunge at Usami, but the magical girl chose not to wait. She increased the pace of her breathing, and her body glowed with pulsing light. After a moment, the light exploded from her body, and the darkness was lit up by a large dome of light. The twitching form of The Dragon’s Tooth and the winded thugs became visible for Usami, clear as day.  


The blade growled. The Dragon’s Tooth held onto the elongated handle with both hands and squeezed. Her second hand fused to it, just like the first, and the web of blood vessels extended over the entire blade. The serrated edge began to buzz and vibrate. The Dragon’s Tooth leapt at Usami. Usami teleported away, but the assassin pivoted and continued her pursuit, even faster. Usami began trying to dodge, but the assassin’s swipes were endless. Each attack followed on the heels of the previous, and the blade danced with such speed and unpredictableness that Usami could not follow it. After a few seconds, she gasped when the blade bit into her shoulder, just next to the shoulder pad.  


The Dragon’s Tooth yanked down on the blade, which forced it deeper into Usami’s shoulder before it dragged down at a diagonal, chewed across her breastplate, and sliced across her abdomen. The assassin pulled the blade out, which left large wounds in Usami’s shoulder and side, and aimed a horizontal strike right at the magical girl’s last wound. In that moment it took her to reset, Usami yelled. Tendrils of light bound the assassin, and Usami spun her staff. More light twirled around it, and it elongated into a glowing spear. Usami thrust the spear into The Dragon’s Tooth, and once it had impaled the assassin the spear exploded.  


The Dragon’s Tooth was thrown back across the platform. She slid to a stop on the floor. Her twitches slowed, and the buzzing from the blade ceased. Her second hand broke free of the handle and the web of blood vessels receded a fraction. After a moment, the assassin struggled back to her feet.  


Usami continued to stand where she had been, and panted. Light poured out of the wounds in her shoulder and abdomen. A large section of her breastplate had been destroyed. Her mismatched wingbones dragged behind her. Her staff was gone.  


The Dragon’s Tooth regained her stance. Usami’s mask picked up her whispered words. “To be standing with those injuries is proof enough of your monstrosity.”  


“Someone like you calling me a monster isn’t funny,” Usami’s voice echoed.  


The Dragon’s Tooth stared at Usami. “No offers for my surrender? No opportunity for me to flee? Your behavior has changed remarkably in the nights since your partner was hospitalized.”  


“My priority was saving her,” Usami said. “Tonight, it’s taking that sword out of your hands.”  


The blade twitched, and the skin that had bonded with the handle was pulled tighter.  


“The Tooth cannot simply be pulled out of my hands,” The Dragon’s Tooth said. “And if The Immortal could not force me to relinquish this, what makes you think you can?”  


Usami sighed. “Well, I don’t want to make light of my respectable peer, but…”  


She held her hand out. A new staff materialized in her grasp. Her wing bones stretched out and healed. Feathers popped out of them.  


“...I’m a little more powerful than they are,” Usami finished.  


She teleported toward The Dragon’s Tooth and spun. Her wings reached out and attempted to trip the assassin. The Dragon’s Tooth danced back, then continued to dodge when Usami finished her twirl with a blast of light from her staff.  


The Dragon’s Tooth side stepped the light, and dived back in with a slash at Usami’s upper arm. Usami knocked the blade away with her staff, but the assassin rotated her wrist and used the flat of her blade to push Usami’s staff down and out of the way. At the same time, she stepped into Usami’s guard and elbowed her in the abdomen.  


Usami coughed when The Dragon’s Tooth hit her. She fought her body’s natural urge to double over, instead leaned back, and dodged the upward slash from the assassin by a fraction of a moment. She released a ball of light out of her choker and teleported away. The Dragon’s Tooth jumped away and shielded herself as the ball exploded. Blinded for a moment, the assassin did not see the Usami point her staff.  


The magical girl levitated The Dragon’s Tooth off the platform, and tried to slam her back down. The blade reacted on its own, and stretched to spear itself in the ceiling before Usami could yank the assassin into the concrete. After a moment, Usami’s hold on The Dragon’s Tooth broke, and the assassin dropped onto their feet and darted toward Usami.  


One of Usami’s shoes glowed. She did a spin kick, and the glow left behind a trail that hardened into a barrier. The assassin pivoted and spun around the barrier, right into the path of Usami’s staff. Usami launched a concussive blast that hit The Dragon’s Tooth in the chest and knocked her off her feet.  


As the Dragon’s Tooth stumbled backwards, her blade lashed out like a whip. It caught Usami on the arm and left a long slash from her upper arm to her wrist. It bit into her wrist and dug light out, which was then absorbed into the blade through the small pores that opened and closed.  


“Yes…” The Dragon’s Tooth mumbled. She hit the floor, and her body shuddered while the blade slurped. When she rolled to her feet, she looked up to find Usami had teleported next to her. The magical girl swung her staff with one hand, and smashed it into the side of the Dragon Tooth’s head. A blast of light exploded from it, and the assassin dropped to the ground again.  


Her body’s shivers intensified, and she kicked out with all her strength. Her kick connected with Usami’s leg, and they both heard a snap. Usami listed to one side, but her wings outstretched and lifted her off the ground a fraction. The Dragon’s Tooth scrambled away.  


Usami glowed. Her staff shimmered and began to elongate. On the floor below Usami, a pink heart appeared. Her staff finished its transformation into a rainbow colored spear. She stook aim at The Dragon’s Tooth as the assassin attempted to flee. With as powerful a throw as she could muster, Usami threw the spear into the assassin’s back.  


When the spear made contact, it released a web of light that trapped the assassin. She hacked and tugged at the web however she could, but it would not release her. Usami floated closer, her mouth pressed into a firm line.  


“Soul Spear, opening act,” her words echoed, “Revelation.”  


The web of light tightened and glowed white. The Dragon’s Tooth choked on her scream as the light brightened, before it dissolved and released her. She lay still at Usami’s feet and panted. Usami levitated her up and began to float toward the entrance. The assassin could muster only a pitiful struggle as protest.  


“You know,” Usami said, “That’s twice in a week you’ve taken that spell. Plus the misfire I had earlier. No matter how many people you vamp off of, you can’t force your body to overcome that kind of damage without some rest. The sword isn’t of any more help to you.”  


The Dragon’s Tooth glared at Usami.  


“Oh don’t give me that look,” Usami said. “I know you’ve got a shred of fight left in you, but really. You’ve past the point where you can hurt me. Can we just skip the inevitable end to this battle where I knock you unconscious and drag your body to the detention center? I’m sore enough.”  


Usami floated toward the stairs. “Okay, so maybe I hadn’t planned out how I’m going to get you to give up the sword past this point. But darn it I’ll make it happen. Even if I have to lock us in a room together so we can watch romcoms, and paint our nails, and gossip about love, and do all that other stuff girls do to bond. I will convince you.”  


Before she could leave the subway line, a voice called out to her. “Wait.”  


It was weak, but Usami heard it nonetheless. She turned and saw the leader of the thugs on his hands and knees.  


“I’m not just going to leave you guys here,” Usami said. “Don’t worry, someone will be around to pick you up shortly.”  


The thug shook his head. “Leave The Dragon’s Tooth here.”  


“...Yeah, that’s not gonna happen,” Usami said.  


The man tried to shrug. “Then your friend, and a lot of other sick people, are going to die.”  


Usami paused.  


“Excuse me?” She said.  


The man took a few seconds to breathe. “The boss, he’s been pretty principled about his war against you supers. He could be a lot more heavy handed, but he’s going about it with some decency.”  


“He tried to vandalize a community center,” Usami said. “How is that decent?”  


“We’re not shooting people in the streets, right?” The man asked. “We’re not targeting kids, or old people. We’re staying away from cop families.”  


“You tried to bomb a school principal,” Usami said.  


The man tried to shrug again. “It’s not perfect. There’s always some civie casualties in a war. But the boss hasn’t ordered us to start bombing hospitals. He might change his mind if he doesn’t get his greatest killer back, though. War has a way of loosening principals.”  


Usami faced the man. “You’re bluffing.”  


“Maybe,” the man conceded. “Do you want to call it? Are you gonna risk it?”  


Usami looked back at The Dragon’s Tooth.  


“Battles are won with power, wars are won with plans,” she whispered to Usami.  


Usami let out a little scream and dropped the assassin to the floor. She levitated the thug closer to her.  


“You’re wrong,” she said. “I’ve met people who have fought in real wars, and thrown away years of their lives protecting people. Their principles are as strong as they always were.”  


“Oh yeah?” The thug asked. “‘Cause I didn’t see Monomi fight the bear too much once the Graduates fell apart.”  


Usami sucked in a breath. She slammed the thug into the ground.  


“Careful,” she muttered. “Even the sweetest girls don’t like it when you bad mouth their moms.”  


She left the derelict subway tunnel. The Dragon’s Tooth and Kuzuryu thugs remained scattered across the platform, bruised and almost unconscious. The umbrella of light faded and shrouded them from sight. Usami floated back into the open night and began to fly into the sky.  


Beams of light continued to radiate from the deep wounds in her shoulder and side. They were joined by little trickles from her arm. She groaned as she sped through the sky, and her hands moved to cover the wounds.  


Usami flew back to the hospital. She glanced at Kyoko’s window, and saw the light was off. She swooped down to the ground and landed at the entrance. The detectives were waiting in the lobby. The senior detective stood and approached as Usami limped towards him.  


“Any luck?” he asked.  


She shrugged. “Found her with a bunch of friends at the old subway line. If you hurry you could still catch some of them before they regain consciousness.”  


“Including her?” the detective asked.  


Usami frowned. “She’ll probably get away. I got her to burn through the worst of her power surge, but she’ll use whatever extra fluids she’s stockpiled to heal and escape. If your officers do run into her though, she shouldn’t be any more dangerous than an armed gangster.”  


The younger detective approached. “Why didn’t you bring her in?”  


Usami’s shoulders fell. “I tried. They threatened to bomb here if I did. I didn’t want to put these people at risk.”  


The detective snorted. “Typical. Honor among freaks, right?”  


The senior detective shot a look at his partner. “Quiet.”  


He looked over Usami’s wounds. “Thanks for the help. We’ll get someone there right away. Can we get you a hospital bed?”  


Usami shook her head and mustered a weak smile. “I’ll be fine, thanks. I’m sturdier than I look.”  


She stumbled out of the hospital and flew away. She landed up on her rooftop perch. When her wings folded around her, she gasped and collapsed. Usami curled in on herself, and her hands went to the wound in her side. She lay on the rooftop and struggled breathe in sharp gasps.  


Over time, the wound on her arm closed itself up. The light that came from the deep gouges in her side and shoulder dimmed, though the wounds were still open. Usami’s breaths came easier, and she was able to stretch herself out. She pushed herself into a sitting position and looked back at the hospital.  


Her breath caught. Kyoko’s light was now on, and a piece of paper had been taped in the window. Usami peered at the window, and saw that Kyoko was absent from the room. She teleported over to the window and read the note.  


_I know where Fuyuhiko is. Let’s end this._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks, Peko, for making me add an archive warning. I was going to keep the violence relatively restrained, and then you had to go and screw it up. Let's hope that doesn't come back to bite you...or your boss...
> 
> Thanks for reading. I hope you liked it, and I'd appreciate whatever comments, kudos, bookmarks, or subscriptions you cast my way. See you next chapter.


	5. Battle with the Dragon, Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As things come to a head, Usami hesitates on what she should do with Kyoko.

Usami sat at her perch and looked toward the ground floor of the hospital. In the reception area, Kyoko spoke with one of the employees at the desk. The detective filled out paperwork for the receptionist, gave a curt nod, and left the building. Outside, Kyoko squinted under the bright sunlight. Her gaze drifted up to where Usami watched.  


The magical girl moved away from the edge of the building. “Come on Kiri, don’t make this difficult. Just, like, go home or something.”  


Usami peeked over the edge. Kyoko had left the hospital entrance and was now down the block. The detective seemed to be on a simple stroll.  


Usami smiled. “Yes. Just like that. Good.”  


Behind Kyoko, two people followed her trail. Their clothes were the same as everyone around them, layered against the growing chill, but their focus was centered on the detective. Usami frowned when she saw them. She began to stand up.  


Kyoko reached an alleyway. She looked over her shoulder, right at the people following her. With one finger, she beckoned to them. Then she ducked into the alleyway. The two tails looked at each other then followed. One of them slipped a hand into their coat.  


Usami groaned. “Kiri, what are you doing?”  


She jumped into the sky and flew toward the alleyway. She swooped above the narrow space between the buildings. Below, Kyoko stood with her arms crossed and faced down the two tails. The one who had reached into their coat now held a combat knife.  


Usami shot toward the ground. She landed behind the two tails, and used her staff to throw the armed one into a wall. There was a loud popping noise when they collided with the brick, and they slumped to the ground. The second tail spun around, but before they could do anything else Usami levitated them and threw them straight up. The tail flailed as they spun up through the air, and then back down. On the return half of their arc, Usami launched a wave of light that collided with the tail. They went limp in the air, and Usami teleported to them before they smashed into the ground.  


She lowered the second tail to the ground. As she did, a voice called out to her. “I wasn’t yet done with them.”  


Usami looked up. Kyoko had not moved from her initial position, except to turn in Usami’s direction. Her arms were still crossed. “I was hoping to get some information out of them before you interfered. You jumped in far faster than normal.”  


Usami strode over to Kyoko.  


“Usami-” Kyoko began.  


Usami levitated Kyoko and jumped up one of the buildings. The detective was pulled along, and when they reached the roof she landed hard. Kyoko winced and rubbed her side. “Perhaps in the future you can be more gentle with people just released from the hospital?”  


Usami balked. “Oh my gosh, I’m-”  


She paused. “Wait. No, you can’t distract me from being upset with you.”  


The magical girl put her hands on her hips. “That was very dangerous. Don’t do it again.”  


Kyoko got to her feet and brushed off her coat. “I had everything under control.”  


“They pulled a knife on you,” Usami said.  


“And I knew you’d intervene before they could use it,” Kyoko said. “So I attempted to gather more information while I had the chance. The more we know about the Kuzuryu, the easier of a time we will have taking down Fuyuhiko.”  


“Your predictions aren’t fool proof,” Usami said. “What would have happened if something didn’t go according to your plan?”  


Kyoko shrugged.  


“...And anyway, there is no ‘we’,” Usami continued. “I can deal with the Kuzuryu on my own.”  


Kyoko’s eyes narrowed. “I see nearly a week has not been long enough for you to get over your self-imposed guilt.”  


“Okay, you lost me about half way through that sentence,” Usami said. “But, like, go do something else with your time besides get beat up by mobsters. I’m sure there are some missing pets you could track down.”  


Kyoko glowered.  


“What?” Usami asked. “Imagine how happy you could make someone by finding their lost pet.”  


She turned on her heel. “In fact, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I’m going to fly far away and go pull a cat out of a tree. And you are going to go home and drink some hot chocolate, and maybe watch a soap opera, and definitely not risk your life trying to track down a mob boss.”  


Usami stretched her wings out. She leapt into the air.  


With a hard edge to her voice, Kyoko said “Usami, wait.”  


The magical girl tripped over her own feet and tumbled back to the rooftop. She straightened herself out in a hurry. “What? What? That was going to be a fantastic and dramatic exit.”  


“Two things,” Kyoko said. “First off, how am I supposed to get off this rooftop if you just leave?”  


Usami looked around. Her wings drooped. “Oh. Yeah.”  


“Secondly,” Kyoko continued, “I have made it my life’s mission to root out corruption and injustice. It was my focus long before I moved to Hope’s Peak. If you cut me out of the loop now, I’m just going to continue fighting the Kuzuryu on my own terms. Mundane limitations and all.”  


She stepped closer to Usami. “I know my skills have helped you, and your skills have helped me. If we’re both going to stay in this fight, we might as well do so as a team. Wouldn’t you agree?”  


Usami fidgeted under Kyoko’s gaze. She tugged at the end of her skirt. “It’s...it’s not that simple…”  


Kyoko frowned. “What makes it complicated?”  


“...Things…” Usami muttered.  


“What things?” Kyoko demanded.  


Usami took a step back. “Nevermind,” she said in a quiet voice. “I’ll think about what you said.”  


She levitated Kyoko and brought her back down to the alleyway floor. The two tails still lay on the ground.  


“You’ll take care of this?” Usami asked.  


Kyoko nodded.  


“Sweet. I’ve got to get to my day job.” Usami said. She teleported away. Kyoko was left alone in the alleyway, with two unconscious yakuza around her and a tight frown on her face.

* * *

Chiaki yawned and rubbed at her eyes. She sat in a high-end computer chair, in front of a desk. The desk held a large computer tower and monitor. On the monitor was a pixelated beach, with two-dimensional anime characters frozen in various poses and actions. A chat box next to the beach displayed a constant chain of comments.  


_Sleep cam is over :(_  


_NaNaChi used Revivify. It was super effective._  


_Someone let me know when she gets to the nsfw stuff._  


Chiaki reached for an abandoned headset and slipped it on. “Whoops. How long was I out?”  


She looked at a timer in the corner of her monitor. “Fifteen minutes? Sorry. Looks like the riveting gameplay in this visual novel was too much for my senses.”  


_NaNaChi, are you saying you were too...excited ;)_  


_The sarcasm is strong with you, NaNaChi_  


“What was I doing?” Chiaki asked.  


_Boobs_  


_Boobs_  


_Boobs_  


Chiaki looked at the anime characters. A young woman stood off to the side, a pout on her face and arms crossed. Chiaki clicked on the young woman, and the beach scene changed to a zoomed in image of the woman’s angry face.  


A text box appeared below the woman’s face. _“I can’t believe you. We spent weeks planning this trip, and you show up late.”_  


Dialogue options appeared. Chiaki looked them over. “Well I didn’t do it on purpose. If I explain what happened, maybe she’ll feel better.”  


Chiaki chose the dialogue option _Calm down. I can explain things._  


The young woman appeared to grow angrier. _“Don’t tell me to calm down! I am calm!”_  


Chiaki frowned. “Whoops.”  


The chat box filled with laughing emotes.  


The young woman pointed toward Chiaki. _“I don’t care what excuses you have. You just better have your stuff together in time for the party tonight.”_  


Chiaki sighed. “She probably isn’t going to like that I won’t be able to make it to the party. Maybe if I tell her what’s going on at the hospital, she’ll understand.”  
Chiaki chose the dialogue option _Actually, I have to visit Ise at the hospital. I won’t be able to make it to the party._  


The young woman’s face flushed, and tears appeared in the corners of her eyes. _“You...You’re cancelling on me now? On such short notice? FOR A DIFFERENT WOMAN?!”_  


The image changed to the young woman’s back as she ran away. _“Fine! Do whatever you want! It’s not like I’d planned for tonight to be special or anything!”_  


The image zoomed back out to the beach, with the other anime characters frozen in the same poses they were before. The young woman was now gone.  


Chiaki rubbed at her eyes. “Wow. I played that horribly. Why did you all want me to romance her again?”  


The chat lit up with one word. _Boobs_  


“Oh yeah,” Chiaki said. “How could I forget?”  


She leaned back in her chair. “People are confusing. If I’m too direct, they feel offended. If I’m not direct enough, the point of the conversation gets muddled or derailed. Human interactions are way too complex.”  


_Whoa. Robo NaNaChi has appeared!_  


_It’s not so confusing. There is a middle ground between the two extremes._  


Chiaki sighed again. “...Yeah, probably. Still feels like a lot of the time conversations go sideways. Like, most social links IRL end with the other person going off in a dangerous direction and nothing you do can change their course.”  


_I can’t handle these intense philosophy sessions coming from NaNaChi’s blank face._  


_Is your Dramatic stat boosted???_  


“Let me check,” Chiaki said. She pulled up a menu on the game that listed her character’s attributes. “Nope, Dramatic is at normal levels. Suave is maxed out though. I wonder why that didn’t give me any bonuses in conversation?”  


_Maybe it’s because Boobs is too big a bitch?_  


_Tfw waifu is too tsun and not dere._  


Chiaki rested her head in her hand. “I dunno. Aren’t a lot of people like that? They end up focusing more on their own problems and lose sight of the problems the people they care about are going through? And then in the heat of the moment they say things they don’t mean, and the divorce rate continues to increase.”  


_That went from zero to one hundred pretty quick._  


“I’m just saying, the hardest thing about life is the inability to save scum.” Chiak said. “Imagine if we could re-load our lives and make better choices.”  


_The world would dissolve into chaos._  


_YOU COULD DO A TOPLESS STREAM AND THEN UNDO IT. ONLY THE BLESSED FEW WOULD REMEMBER._  


“All true,” Chiaki said. She pressed a few buttons and a poll appeared in the chatbox. “Alright viewers, time to decide. Do I go chase Boobs down and patch things up, or do I shoot for the good ending with Ise the sickly girl?”  


The votes pushed one choice ahead of the other just a few moments after Chiaki posted the poll. The comment thread was filled with a chant. _Sickly Waifu, Sickly Waifu, Sickly Waifu_  


Small arguments for one character over another appeared. One comment caught Chiaki’s attention.  


_Hinajime00: Sickly Waifu all the way. She seems nicer, and anyway if someone really loved you they would at least give you a chance to explain yourself. No matter how selfish a person is, a good relationship at least needs open and honest communication._  


Chiaki stared at the comment. She looked back at the image of the beach. She clicked on a map icon in the bottom corner, and the beach scene switched to an overview of a city. Some of the buildings were outlined. Chiaki clicked on an outlined hospital, and a scene of a hospital lobby appeared.  


“The chat has spoken,” Chiaki said. “Now let’s see how I screw up this route.”

* * *

That evening, Chiaki left the Vorpal Mist. She cast one last glance over her shoulder as she walked out the door, toward the table she and Hajime frequented. He was nowhere to be seen.  


Alone, Chiaki meandered down the streets toward Hope’s Peak’s business district. The days had begun to grow dark earlier, and the sidewalks hosted thin groups of employees that were either heading home after a long day or toward the beginning of a long night shift. Her focus was on her phone, where she flicked small green and black orbs at monsters that appeared in her path. She would pass by other people who played the same game as they walked, and exchange knowing looks and nods.  


Chiaki reached a crosswalk and waited for the walk sign to appear. Other pedestrians surrounded her, each with their own level of patience for the red light that held them in place. Some snacked, while others looked at phones or chatted with the people around them.  


The other pedestrians looked up when police sirens roared to life. Three cars drove through the intersection fast enough that they caused some of the pedestrian’s coat tails to flare back. After a moment of silence, the red light turned to a walk sign. The pedestrians began to cross the intersection, and gossiped about the police cars as they did.  


Chiaki turned and walked in the direction the cars had gone. Her phone buzzed as she passed more monsters, but she caught them without much attention. She walked against the flow of pedestrians, who paid her as much attention as she did her phone. When the sound of police sirens had faded, she pulled her hood over her head and slipped a hand into her jacket pocket. She clutched at her pink crystal, which began to glow.  


Obscured by the hood, the glow from her hair was almost impossible to notice. She drifted toward the buildings next to the sidewalk and came to a stop. She slipped her phone into her pocket. A quick glance confirmed no one was watching her, so she teleported to the rooftop of the building.  


She brought the crystal out of her pocket and held it to her chest. A blast of light and a moment later, and her transformation was complete. Magical Girl Usami followed the path the police cars had taken. Her mask’s ears swiveled. They both twisted the same direction, and Usami twirled through the sky.  


She landed next to a group of parked police cars. The cars formed a half circle around a bland office complex. Gunfire and shouts came from inside the building. The door had been knocked in, and some of the windows were broken.  


Kyoko stood next to the doorway, and on occasion glanced inside. She nodded toward Usami when she saw the magical girl.  


Usami teleported next to her. “Seriously? It hasn’t even been a day and you’re already chasing down Kuzuryu hotspots? Was the hospital so fun you wanted to go right back?”  


“I’ve got this under control,” Kyoko said.  


Another gunshot echoed out of the building, and a bullet shattered another window.  


Usami put a hand on her hip.  


“Events are unfolding within expectation,” Kyoko said.  


Usami groaned and marched into the building.  


Kyoko watched her enter the building and vanish. She rubbed her wrist. After a minute, she took a few steps back and looked over the front of the building. The detective pointed at the windows that remained undamaged in an almost random sequence. Soon after, the windows lit up with Usami’s glow and the sound of screams from the Kuzuryu in almost the same sequence Kyoko had predicted.  


“Still not perfect,” Kyoko mused.  


Some time later, police officers began to exit the building. They returned to their cars, to use their radios or transport disoriented Kuzuryu thugs. Kyoko received the cold shoulder from all of them. Usami was the last to leave the building. She approached Kyoko.  


Usami pulled up short. She and Kyoko stared at each other.  


“So Fuyuhiko wasn’t present?” Kyoko asked.  


“Nope,” Usami answered.  


“How unfortunate,” Kyoko said.  


“I thought you knew where he was?” Usami said.  


Kyoko glanced at the nearest police officers. She gave Usami a leading look. “If I knew that, I would share it.”  


Usami frowned. “Yeah, yeah.”  


She kicked at the ground. “Do you want to...you know...talk?”  


Kyoko raised an eyebrow. She pointed at a nearby rooftop.  


“Before you do anymore meddling, you should get that welt checked out,” one of the officers called toward Kyoko.  


Usami stared at Kyoko. “Welt?”  


Kyoko rubbed her wrist again. “A minor wound I received during some questioning that went sideways.”  


Usami balked. “Kiri…”  


Kyoko nodded toward the rooftop.  


Usami levitated Kyoko and flew her over to the rooftop. Once Kyoko had regained her balance, Usami grasped her arm and rolled up her sleeve. A large section of Kyoko’s wrist had turned blue and purple.  


“They swung at me with a baton,” Kyoko explained. “I caught it with my wrist instead of my skull. I think you would agree that was good judgement.”  


Usami’s lips trembled. She took a step back and let Kyoko’s wrist go. “You know, this is the kind of thing I was worried about.”  


“You’ve never expressed worry over my minor injuries before,” Kyoko said as she rolled the sleeve back down.  


“Things are different now,” Usami said. “You’re being targeted by Kamukura. He doesn’t stop at ‘minor’.”  


“The same logic can be applied toward you,” Kyoko said. “Whatever advantages you think you have over mundane people, you confront Kamukura with such frequency that I would be a nervous wreck if I was concerned over every potential injury you could suffer.”  


“Except Kamukura’s never hurt me so much I couldn’t come back from it,” Usami argued. “But I’ve seen him break mundane people before. I don’t want to watch it happen again.”  


“...Like he did with your first partner?” Kyoko asked.  


Usami froze. Her shoulders fell. “I forgot you knew about him.”  


“Only from the brief moments you brought him up after it happened,” Kyoko said. “I never got the chance to work with him, and you don’t talk about him much.”  


“That’s because I don’t like thinking about him,” Usami said. “My stomach gets all knotty and I feel like crying. Even after these years.”  


She began to do a lazy dance around the rooftop. “He was so earnest. So committed to helping me. To helping justice and righteousness. There were times his resolve to defeat Kamukura surpassed my own. He was prepared to throw away everything to defeat the Shadowman. Back when we both thought that meant dying.”  


“What happened to him?” Kyoko asked.  


Usami looked back at the detective. “Kamukura forced him into a fate worse than death.”  


The detective crossed her arms. “Meaning?”  


Usami remained silent.  


Kyoko sighed. “Usami, your compassion for others appears to be boundless. But as I’ve said before, I am not going to sit on the sidelines just because you’re worried about what might happen to me. If you want to keep me and your other allies out of danger, the most logical course of action would be to defeat our enemies as efficiently as possible. Or do you disagree?”  


Usami thought about it.  


“The best way to keep Kamukura from hurting anyone is to lock him away, right?” Kyoko pushed.  


“...Maybe…” Usami relented.  


“So you’re going to rely on my skills to corner Fuyuhiko, the Dragon’s Tooth, and Kamukura, right?” Kyoko continued.  


“...Probably…” Usami muttered.  


Louder, she added “But don’t think I’m changing my mind. I’m still going to worry over every little boo-boo you get.”  


“I expected as much,” Kyoko said. She held out a hand. “Now, shall we return to the task at hand? Defeating the Kuzuryu for the sake of everyone who stands against their injustice?”  


Usami looked at Kyoko’s offered hand. The magical girl teared up.  


“Kiri!” She sobbed, and pulled the detective into a tight embrace. She cried on Kyoko’s shoulder. The detective was tense, but wrapped one arm around Usami and patted her on the back.  


Usami pulled away and shook her head. “Whew. I needed that. Thanks!”  


“...Yeah,” Kyoko muttered. “Can you release me now?”  


Usami let her go. “Sorry, sorry. Alright! Back to work!”  


She clapped her hands. “What was that you said about knowing where Fuyu-Fuyu is?”  


Kyoko brushed at her coat. “While I was in the hospital, I sorted through all my notes on the Kuzuryu.”  


“That makes it sound like you have a lot,” Usami said.  


“I suppose I do,” Kyoko said. “I’ve been collecting information on them, with some help, since long before this war started. Recent events provided an extra incentive to review them.”  


Usami frowned. “Incentive is a weak word to describe gang violence.”  


Kyoko ignored Usami’s comment. “I mapped out the incidents of Kuzuryu activity, analyzed the likely routes they took to and from the incidents, and created a kind of traffic web. The web revealed a few places where many lines of traffic overlapped. Of those, I crossed out the areas I knew had been raided by us or the police already. I was left with two locations that appeared to be Kuzuryu meeting locations, but had not been cleared by us.”  


“So...you don’t know where Fuyu-Fuyu is.” Usami said.  


Kyoko frowned. “Of the two locations, I suspected one was Fuyuhiko’s location over the other. However, I didn’t want my investigation to be clouded by my own preconceptions, so I chose to inform the police about what I believed to be the less likely of the two locations.”  


“Where’s that?” Usami asked.  


Kyoko pointed to the office building.  


“Oh,” Usami said. “So where’s the other place?”  


Kyoko gave Usami a significant look. “A bar. The 77th Dragon.”  


Usami frowned. “Where Hinata used to work?”  


“If Hinata is connected to the Shadowman, it makes sense that he would be stationed near the boss’s headquarters,” Kyoko said. “As a symbol of trust from the Kuzuryu, and so that the Shadowman can keep a close eye on Fuyuhiko.”  


“But Hinata didn’t know it was a yakuza joint,” Usami protested.  


Kyoko rose an eyebrow. “Perhaps it’s your turn to explain any leads you might have on Hinata and Kamukura.”  


Usami plucked at the hem of her skirt. “Okay, so, Hinata has been going through a really rough patch since before this war with Fuyu-Fuyu. He’s been job hunting but can’t find anyone to hire him. He’s been pretty down about it.”  


“And you believed him?” Kyoko asked.  


“Well, yeah,” Usami said. “It seemed like he was telling the truth.”  


“Or covering for his operations with Kamukura,” Kyoko said. “A disgruntled job seeker is a good cover for someone who is spending their nights running around the underworld.”  


Kyoko pinched her chin in thought. “Hinata claims he wasn’t aware that the 77th Dragon had criminal ties. Is he aware now?”  


Usami nodded. “Apparently someone he was interviewing with told him so.”  


“Odd,” Kyoko said. “What kind of employer is aware of the criminal ties that specific businesses have?”  


“One with a lot of street smarts?” Usami offered. “Besides, the Kuzuryu aren’t exactly subtle about hiding their influence. They name everything after dragons.”  


“True,” Kyoko said. “And how did Hinata seem, the last time you saw him?”  


“Concerned about his living situation,” Usami said. “Like, starting to get really desperate.”  


“Desperate enough to turn to crime?” Kyoko asked.  


Usami hesitated. “Why do you ask?”  


Kyoko shrugged. “Recently, I’ve heard the Kuzuryu have started a kind of recruitment drive. Their ranks are filling up with all manner of desperate low-life’s looking for money and reputation.”  


She glanced at Usami. “What are the chances an opportunity like that would appeal to Hinata?”  


Usami fidgeted. “Um...uh…oh boy.”  


“How long has it been since you last saw him?” Kyoko asked.  


Usami counted on her fingers. “Three...no, four days? I haven’t been able to cross his path since.”  


She pouted. “Not for a lack of trying.”  


“The next time you can get a hold of him, do your best to figure out the specifics of what is going on in his life,” Kyoko said. “Whatever Kamukura’s interest in the Kuzuryu is, now would be the perfect time for Hinata to slip into the group’s fold. The potential monetary income is just a bonus.”  


Usami nodded. “Yeah, okay. That’s...a lot of not good. I’ll start trying to track him down tomorrow. Tonight, it sounds like I have a different engagement.”  


She cupped her hands together. Light filtered out between her fingers, first white, then pink, then purple. The sound of something flash freezing echoed around the rooftop, and when Usami opened her hands she held a small purple crystal.  


Usami offered the crystal to Kyoko. “Try not to break this one. It’s difficult to replace.”  


Kyoko took the crystal. “I’m going to assume you are off to the 77th Dragon?”  


Usami nodded. “I end this war tonight.”  


“I’m coming with,” Kyoko said.  


Usami sighed. “Fine. We end this war tonight.”  


Kyoko smirked. “Better.”  


Usami levitated Kyoko, and they flew off into the twilight sky.

* * *

The last light of the day had faded by the time Usami and Kyoko landed in front of the 77th Dragon. The graffiti of the dragon eating the rabbit was still plastered on the wall next to the door. The inside of the bar was silent, and dark.  


Usami tilted her head. “Weird. It should be open for business right now.”  


Kyoko peered into the bar through a window. “There are signs of a struggle. It appears someone beat us to the goal.”  


“Do you see anyone inside?” Usami asked.  


Kyoko shook her head.  


“Cool,” Usami said, and blasted the door down.  


Kyoko rose an eyebrow. “Subtle.”  


“What?” Usami asked. “I wanna hurry up and figure out what’s going on.”  


The duo strode inside. The service area was in disarray. The tables had been overturned, the chairs were scattered and broken, and much of the glassware had been shattered. Usami walked over to a table in the back corner and stood over it, lost in her thoughts.  


Kyoko picked her way through the debris. “Is there anything significant over there?”  


Usami shook her head. “No. Just some memories.”  


The ears on her mask swiveled. “There’s dark energy all over,” she said.  


“The Dragon’s Tooth?” Kyoko asked.  


Usami’s echoing voice was quiet. “Yes, but there’s more than just her.”  


She looked at Kyoko. “He’s here.”  


Tension crawled across Kyoko’s body.  


“You should leave,” Usami said.  


Kyoko adjusted a lock of her hair. “I want to see this through. I’ve prepared for a scenario like this.”  


Usami sighed. “Okay. I’ll trust you this time.”  


She maneuvered through the debris and stopped in front of a small door. Usami opened it and stuck her staff inside. The head of the staff illuminated the back room with a bright glow. Kyoko moved behind Usami and peered inside.  


The storeroom appeared normal. Shelves of alcohol filled the space, from bottles of liquor to kegs of light beer. A machine in the back corner of the room chilled the air, which turned the storage space into a large walk-in refrigerator. The single out of place detail was a section of the floor that had been pulled up.  


Kyoko slipped past Usami and began to walk around the room. “So they even chill the liquor. Interesting.”  


“That’s what you notice in this situation?” Usami asked.  


Kyoko knelt by the section of disturbed floor. “I can only imagine how the Kuzuryu got away with this.”  


Usami walked up to Kyoko. “With what? With what?”  


The magical girl stopped by Kyoko’s side. “Oh. With that.”  


The section of floor revealed a tunnel that lead deeper underground. There were no lights at the bottom of the tunnel. A metal ladder had been bolted to the side of the tunnel, and stretched down into the abyss. The duo looked at each other.  


“I’ll go first,” Usami said. “If I caw like a crow, call the police. If I ribbit like a frog, it’s safe.”  


Kyoko stared at Usami.  


“It’s perfect. Frogs like dark tunnels. I’ll blend in, and communicate with you,” Usami explained.  


Kyoko closed her eyes and motioned for Usami to go down the tunnel.  


Usami leapt into the opening and teleported down. The tunnel opened up into another small room, with a destroyed door. Usami poked her head out of the doorway. The next room had also been destroyed. Usami saw another doorway that had been ripped open, which lead to a third room that looked in worse condition than the others Usami had passed through.  


Usami began to ribbit. They came out high-pitched and echoed through the rooms. She looked behind her and saw that Kyoko was almost finished her descent.  


The detective reached the bottom and let go. She faced Usami, who had puffed her cheeks out in a large pout. “Kiri, you didn’t follow the plan. You never follow my plans.”  


“One can only imagine why,” Kyoko said.  


They moved into the next room. Kyoko pulled out a flashlight and began to comb over each detail, while Usami paced around.  


“Hinata mentioned he heard yelling from the storeroom,” Usami said. “He worried it might have been people getting hurt, but now that I’m down here I think it was probably just people going a little stir crazy.”  


Kyoko nodded. “The logistical challenge of keeping an inner circle in an underground base with only a single entrance likely created many headaches.”  


Usami stopped. “You...you’re agreeing with me, right?”  


Kyoko examined underneath a table. “Yes.”  


“Just checking,” Usami said.  


The magical girl poked her head into the next room. Her natural glow illuminated part of the room. She saw a hallway that stretched away from her. The ears on her mask pointed down the hallway. Usami frowned.  


She teleported to Kyoko’s side. The detective continued to examine the area around her.  


“The Kuzuryu are falling apart,” Kyoko said. “They don’t have the people to fight against us, the police, Kamukura, and maintain their organization. The mass breakout doesn’t seem to have benefited them. They haven’t been able to replenish their numbers faster than their members have been arrested or killed. I think by this point all but the inner circle have jumped ship-”  


“Kiri,” Usami whispered.  


Kyoko paused and looked at Usami. The magical girl held a finger to her lips. She teleported back to the door and motioned for Kyoko to follow her. The detective complied, and kept her footsteps as light as she could.  


When Kyoko stopped next to Usami, the magical girl pointed down the hallway. “There’s fighting that way,” she whispered.  


Kyoko rose an eyebrow. “Magical?”  


Usami nodded. “There’s an energy I’ve never felt before. Be careful.”  


The duo headed down the hallway. At the end was a set of metal double doors that had been sealed shut. Someone was yelling on the other side of the doors. There were no external handles on the doors, so Usami looked at Kyoko. “I guess you’re not gonna want to stay on this side alone?”  


Kyoko shook her head.  


Usami sighed. “Alright. Be ready. We’re gonna go for my classic shock and awe tactic.”  


“That makes it sound like you plan how you approach situations,” Kyoko said.  


Usami wrapped an arm around Kyoko and teleported through the doors.  


The duo appeared inside the sealed room. It was designed like a modern throne room: the back of the room was on a raised platform, and had a large chair decorated with dragon designs. Maps and banners hung from the walls, though most had been torn down. The few lightbulbs that had not yet been destroyed gave the room a dim glow. The shadows seemed to turn the bodies that littered the floor into formless lumps.  


The Dragon’s Tooth darted between the bodies, and lunged toward her target. Before the blade could find its mark, a hand intercepted it. The blade buzzed and chewed through flesh, but the hand would not release it. A tendril of shadow reared up and whipped the Dragon’s Tooth off her feet. The assassin careened across the room and hit the opposite wall.  


A man stood in front of the throne, bound by shadow tendrils that seemed to crush him. When the Dragon’s Tooth was hit, he choked out “Peko!”  


Usami took in quick and deep breaths. With a shout, she released an umbrella of light that took up the whole room. The Dragon’s Tooth, the man by the throne, and Kyoko all covered their eyes. Kyoko was the first to recover. “This appears complicated.”  


The Dragon’s Tooth struggled to her feet. She glanced between the people in the room, unsure of who to next strike. Across the room from the Dragon’s Tooth, dressed in his same suit and tie, stood Kamukura Izuru. The sudden arrival of Usami and Kyoko did not phase him. He stared at the magical girl with the same bored expression he always held.  


By the throne, Kuzuryu Fuyuhiko cracked his eyes back open. “Just fucking great. The two people who could make this night worse.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This update came a little later than I'd intended, sorry about that. I'm doing a writing challenge with some friends, so balancing that with MGU has been difficult.
> 
> So next chapter is the last chapter of the arc! I'm excited to show you all how it wraps up.


	6. Battle with the Dragon, Finale: Settlement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Usami, Izuru, and Fuyuhiko resolve their three-sided conflict. Hinata's ultimate fate is called into question, and new forces begin to awaken in Hope's Peak.

Fuyuhiko struggled in the grasp of the shadow tendrils that bound him. The Dragon’s Tooth glanced between everyone else in the room as she struggled not to twitch. Izuru continued to ignore all but Usami, whom he stared down. Usami returned his look in kind and twirled her staff between her fingers. Kyoko stood by Usami and observed the sudden deadlock. She was the first to speak.  


“Shadowman,” she said, “I suppose we have you to thank for this massacre?”  


She motioned to the bodies strewn across the floor of the throneroom. Izuru remained silent, but Fuyuhiko spoke up.  


“Who the fuck else do you think did this, Santa Claus?” he spat. “Of course it was the smug bastard. Caught us with our pants down and ripped us to pieces.”  


Kyoko tapped the side of her face. “What poetic justice. You made a deal with the closest thing this world has to the devil, and now it’s come back to haunt you.”  


Fuyuhiko glared. “Don’t patronize me, bitch.”  


Kyoko shrugged. “Say what you want. The evidence is clear. You thought you could fight the two most powerful supers in the city at once, and you failed. Now they’ve both arrived to finish you off.”  


Izuru closed his eyes. He chose to enter the conversation. “What a boring conclusion. Your reputation appears to be embellished.”  


Usami frowned. “Don’t talk bad on her. She’s probably the smartest person in this room. I bet you’re just jealous because she figured out what you were doing so quickly.”  


Izuru glanced at her again. “Hardly.”  


Usami crossed her arms. “Well then, High-and-Mighty-man, if you’re not here to get back at Fuyu-Fuyu for declaring war on you, then what are you doing here?”  


The shadows around the room pulsed as Izuru spoke. “The city must remain at an equilibrium. If that balance is disturbed, events will not play out as they should. When these two-” the shadows that bound Fuyuhiko tightened, and a tendril wrapped around one of the Dragon’s Tooth’s legs, “-began their outburst, they moved outside of their bounds. Now I have no more use for them.”  


The Dragon’s Tooth slashed at the shadows that held her. She dashed toward Fuyuhiko, but a wall of shadow rose between them. She screamed and began to circle around the wall, but it followed her movements. The assassin hacked away at the barrier, but it continued to block her path no matter how many tears she created in it.  


Fuyuhiko turned his glare onto Izuru. “Your demands were bullshit anyway. The rabbit screwed up way too many of my men for me to just leave her alone. The assignments you gave us always came back to bite us in the ass. And don’t get me started on the insubordination you created. Allying with you was the biggest mistake I could have made.”  


Izuru’s gaze slid over to Fuyuhiko. “You seem to be implying you had a choice.”  


Fuyuhiko gritted his teeth.  


Izuru angled himself toward Fuyuhiko and the Dragon’s Tooth. “Your arrogance runs deep. You believe yourself to be special, to be unique, because of your inherited gift, status, and underling. But the truth is to me all those things are common, insignificant-”  


With one last slash, the Dragon’s Tooth destroyed the barrier between her and Fuyuhiko. Her circling had brought her almost between Fuyuhiko and Izuru. She glanced between the two men, pivoted, and launched herself at Izuru. Her blade buzzed with a loud noise almost like a scream, and she lunged for his chest.  


The blade pierced him through the heart. The buzzing increased in intensity, and the blade drank in the black ooze that poured from the new hole in Izuru’s chest. Izuru’s sentence was cut off, and the shadows that held Fuyuhiko vanished. The assassin pulled her blade free and stepped back. Her body shuddered as the black ooze travelled from the veins in the blade to her body.  


Fuyuhiko coughed and stumbled onto his feet. He stared at Izuru and smirked.  


Kyoko rose her eyebrows. “That was simple.”  


Usami readied her staff.  


Izuru stared at the hole in his body. He looked back at Fuyuhiko, and his gaze was cold and steady. “...and so fragile.”  


A ring of flame erupted from Izuru’s feet. It spread over the entire room, incinerated the bodies that were closest to him, and set the wall decorations on fire. Usami grabbed Kyoko, teleported them over to Fuyuhiko, and created a barrier of light that shielded the three of them plus the Dragon’s Tooth.  


“Shadowman is the big problem,” she said to the other three. “We should focus on chasing him off first.”  


Kyoko nodded. “The enemy of my enemy philosophy. It’s sound logic.”  


Fuyuhiko sneered “Fuck that. We’ve been doing just fine without on our own. Get in our way and we put you down too.”  


“And what do you plan to do against him?” Kyoko asked.  


He smirked. “Watch and learn the difference between us.”  


Once the flames had subsided, Fuyuhiko rolled away from Usami and Kyoko. He stopped in a kneeling position, and glared at Izuru. His eyes glowed red, and twin beams of red energy roared forth. The beams traveled fast enough that they should have been impossible to dodge, but Izuru had begun to move before Fuyuhiko had fired, and the beams sailed past him.  


Usami gaped. “Fuyu-Fuyu is a super?”  


Kyoko pinched her chin. “You did mention you sensed an energy you’d never felt before. And we both theorized he must have some kind of anti-super ace for situations like this.”  


Usami’s shoulders fell. “I really thought it would be a rocket launcher though.”  


Kyoko frowned. “Now isn’t the time to be disappointed.”  


Izuru came to a stop and dashed toward Fuyuhiko, but Usami teleported in the way and swung her staff at his head. He ducked the staff, but could not avoid Usami’s glowing heel as she kicked toward his face. He blocked it with his arm, but the kick left his coat arm singed.  


Fuyuhiko aimed a blast at Usami’s back, but she teleported up.  


“I said don’t interfere,” he yelled.  


Usami frowned. “Wow. Rude.”  


The Dragon’s Tooth had used the distraction created by Usami and Fuyuhiko to circle around Izuru. She charged now, and swung a strike toward his abdomen. Before it could connect, Izuru glanced over his shoulder, swept the assassin’s feet out from under her, and caught her sword arm by the wrist as she fell.  


His fist lit on fire, and the Dragon’s Tooth screamed as he incinerated her hand. The blade twisted and buzzed, and lumps traveled under her skin toward her wrist, but nothing could stop him. In a few seconds, the flames had melted her flesh and charred her bones. With a snap, Izuru removed her sword hand from the rest of her body. He disintegrated the flesh that still clung to the blade and wielded the Tooth in his own hand. The blade attempted to bond with his skin, but instead screamed and reverted to its steel form.  


Usami gasped. Kyoko winced and pressed her lips together. Fuyuhiko paled. His eyes widened as he watched his assassin curl in on herself and cradle her charred stump.  


“No!” he screamed.  


He released another blast aimed at Izuru, but it went wide.  


“Sit still, you son of a bitch,” Fuyuhiko screamed. “Sit still so I can melt your brain into slush. I’ll turn you into a drooling retard of a man. Death is too kind for what you’ve done.”  


Izuru twirled the sword in his hand and charged Fuyuhiko. The mob boss attempted to blast him back with his beams, but Izuru side-stepped each of his attacks. His movements mirrored the Dragon’s Tooth, and Fuyuhiko’s attacks grew more wild as he grew angrier.  


Izuru was two strides away when Usami grabbed him with her staff. She tossed him away from Fuyuhiko, and sent a wave of light at him as he arced through the air. Izuru curled in on himself to take the blast on his limbs instead of his body, and landed on his feet. Once he was on stable ground, he launched a fireball at Fuyuhiko.  


“Shit,” the mob boss said as he tried to dodge, but the fire caught his legs. He rolled and slapped at the flames, his voice trapped in panicked gasps and yells.  


Izuru aimed his hand at Fuyuhiko, but Usami streaked down and locked him in close combat. She swung her staff at him, and he was forced to parry with his sword.  


“Why don’t you pick on someone your own size,” she said through clenched teeth.  


Izuru knocked her staff away. He tried to bring the sword down on her head, but she blocked the overhead strike. For a moment they were locked in place.  


“During the most volatile moments, you appear more than anyone else,” Izuru said. “But that is not why I recognize you. There is something more.”  


Usami slid out from under the sword’s path, spun, and swung back at Izuru.  


Behind them, Fuyuhiko struggled to escape the magical fire that burned through his clothes. When the mob boss could not extinguish all the flames, he fought to unbutton his pants. He kicked his loafers and the charred garment off and shook where he lay. His legs and hands were now covered in burns. He glanced over at Kyoko, who had not moved.  


“Some help you are to your friend,” he spat.  


“I’ll contribute when I can,” Kyoko said. “Until then I have no plans to distract the only person here who has a chance of standing against the Shadowman as an equal.”  


Fuyuhiko glared. “Coward.”  


He got to his feet and looked at the dueling supers. Usami and Izuru were in deadlock. Each second saw three or four blows be traded, neither able to hit the other. Izuru lashed out with a wave of fire, which pushed Usami back. She responded with a blast of light that knocked Izuru off his feet.  


Fuyuhiko’s lips twisted into a snarl. His sent more beams at Izuru, who evaded them with little effort. The moment of distraction allowed Usami to send a barrage of light waves at him, and one caught him in the shoulder. The joint popped out, and the arm hung limp.  


Izuru glanced at his unresponsive limb, then up at Fuyuhiko. The mob boss glared back and began to advance.  


“What’s your next trick, Shadowfuck?” he demanded.  


Izuru shifted his weight. Kyoko’s eyes widened, and from under her coat she pulled out a bolas. She twirled the three weighted orbs at the same time Izuru twirled the sword in his hand, and they threw their tools at the same time.  


Kyoko’s bolas wrapped around Fuyuhiko’s damaged legs, and he stumbled. As his body fell, the sword shot toward him. Instead of piercing him through the skull, the sword cut into his eye, the side of his head, then spiraled past him.  


He screamed and hit the floor. Both his hands went to hold his face on instinct. Kyoko winced again, and Usami let out a quiet yell. She tried to blast at Izuru, but the Shadowman vanished. He reappeared above the Dragon’s Tooth and picked her up by the collar of her tailored coat.  


Fuyuhiko’s remaining eye widened. “Wait,” he stammered between his cries of pain.  


He crawled toward Izuru. “Not her. I’m the one who started this. I’m the one crossed you. She’s just followed my orders. If you want to end the Kuzuryu, then kill me.”  


Izuru and the Dragon’s Tooth looked at Fuyuhiko. When the assassin saw the blood pouring out of Fuyuhiko’s face, she began to struggle in Izuru’s grasp. “Master,” her voice croaked out.  


Izuru thrust his knee into her abdomen, and tossed her next to Fuyuhiko. He held up his working arm, and the area that the two Kuzuryu members occupied was bathed in flames.  


When the flames vanished, they were gone. The sound of their bodies landing on the floor drew Izuru’s attention to Kyoko. Usami now stood next to her partner, with Fuyuhiko and The Dragon’s Tooth at her feet.  


“You’re not killing anyone else tonight,” she said.  


Izuru looked back at the two people at Usami’s feet.  


“A swordsman without her sword hand and a photokinetic with one eye,” Izuru said. “It’s enough to restore equilibrium. A replacement mob boss and assassin will not be long in coming.”  


He glanced at Usami. “I grow tired of useless fighting.”  


The shadows wrapped around him, and Kamukura Izuru vanished from sight.  


Kyoko looked at Usami.  


Usami nodded. “His energy vanished. He’s gone.”  


Kyoko looked at Fuyuhiko and his assassin. Fuyuhiko still had one hand pressed against his damaged eye, but the other one was now wrapped around her shoulders. When he noticed Kyoko’s gaze, he glared. The Kuzuryu boss got to his feet and squared his stance. Despite the burns on his hands and legs, and the fact he wore nothing but his boxers and socks below the waist, he managed to project a small aura of intimidation.  


However, Kyoko was unaffected. “Get them to a hospital. I’ll call the police.”  


“Don’t go pretending this is fucking over,” Fuyuhiko said. “All that’s left is to settle things between the four of us.”  


Usami’s shoulders fell. “C’mon Fuyu-Fuyu. It’s pretty obvious which side is gonna win, and the two of you have serious injuries. If we don’t do something quick, you could die.”  


Fuyuhiko paled, but his stance remained unshaken. “I’m not going to a hospital. I’m not going to jail. I’d rather die.”  


Kyoko nodded at the Dragon’s Tooth. “She might, if you keep this up.”  


The Dragon’s Tooth struggled to her feet. Her graveled voice hissed out from beneath her mask. “I’d rather bite through my own tongue then be used as leverage against my master.”  


At her declaration, Fuyuhiko faltered. He looked between the three women.  


“Look, rabbit,” he said, “if we go to prison we’re sitting ducks. Shadowfuck could pick us off whenever he wanted.”  


“We could protect you,” Usami offered.  


Kyoko crossed her arms. “Besides, if he really wants you dead, he’ll make sure you die.”  


Fuyuhiko shook his head. “This is my city. I know how to go to ground in it. I’ll vanish so deep into the alleys no one will find us. Not him, not you.”  


“I doubt that,” Kyoko said.  


Fuyuhiko grimaced. He turned back to Usami. “What do you want? My organization is done. Do you want me to say the Kuzuryu are through? Fine.”  


The Dragon’s Tooth’s head swiveled to Fuyuhiko. “Master?”  


Usami tilted her head.  


“You want us to get treatment?” Fuyuhiko asked. “Fine. I know people who can get us in and out of Hope’s Peak General off the books. You want me to swear I’ll never commit another crime? Fine. She and I are on the straight and narrow, starting right now.”  


Kyoko shook her head. “We have no reason to believe an empty promise like that.”  


Fuyuhiko glared. “I swear on my honor as the head of the Kuzuryu, and on the blood of my family. Kuzuryu Fuyuhiko will never commit a crime again.”  


Usami thought about it.  


“What about justice for all the people you’ve hurt?” Usami asked.  


Kyoko narrowed her eyes. “Usami…”  


Fuyuhiko spat. “Fuck justice. It’s just vengeance combined with a sob story. If you wanted justice you should have let Shadowfuck kill us both. Or are you going to do it instead?”  


Usami frowned. “I don’t kill.”  


“So then what?” Fuyuhiko shot at her. “You turn us over to the authorities? And if we don’t ‘commit suicide’ while in police custody, we spend months in a holding cell while your cop pals collect evidence for a trial. Each second is another opportunity for Shadowfuck to kill us.”  


Usami remained quiet.  


Fuyuhiko ran his free hand over his hair. “What more do you want from me? I made a mistake. My whole life is now upside down. I regret so much. What more do I have to give up before your justice is satisfied?”  


Usami tapped her staff against her leg.  


Her echoing voice was quiet. “Promise you’ll never break the law again. Any law.”  


Kyoko sighed. “Usami, no.”  


Fuyuhiko nodded. “I promise.”  


“Promise you’ll never hurt anyone else, at all. Regardless of the circumstance,” Usami continued.  


Fuyuhiko nodded again. “I promise.”  


“Promise you’ll always put the people around you first,” Usami finished. “No matter what, your needs become secondary.”  


Fuyuhiko hesitated.  


“You asked me what else I wanted,” Usami said. “I want to know you’ll be doing something to right the wrongs you’ve done.”  


Fuyuhiko sighed. “I promise.”  


Usami looked at the Dragon’s Tooth. “And what about you?”  


The Dragon’s Tooth looked at Fuyuhiko.  


“I follow my master’s wish,” she said.  


Usami nodded. “Then go. Quickly. Before Fuyu-Fuyu goes into shock or something.”  


Fuyuhiko began to walk toward the exit. The Dragon’s Tooth walked the opposite direction, and retrieved the sword where it had fallen.  


“Hey,” Kyoko said.  


Usami teleported over and tried to take the sword, but the handle wrapped around the assassin’s wrist and dug into her skin.  


“Stay back,” the Dragon’s Tooth hissed.  


Usami frowned.  


Fuyuhiko spoke up. “You don’t need that anymore. We’re leaving all this behind.”  


The Dragon’s Tooth shook her head. “I need it, in case he comes for you.”  


“We’ll outrun him,” Fuyuhiko said.  


The assassin cradled the sword. “I need it. It’s mine. I won’t leave it behind.”  


Fuyuhiko sighed. He looked at Usami and Kyoko. “Just...let her have it, please. It’s almost impossible to remove without her consent, and anyway it’s just going to get tossed in a closet and collect dust. What use do normal civilians have for a cursed sword?”  


Usami looked between Fuyuhiko and the Dragon’s Tooth. She stepped back. “This is a second chance. No one gets a third.”  


The Dragon’s Tooth slinked past the magical girl and stopped by Fuyuhiko’s side. The two of them walked to the exit of the room. Just before he stepped out, Fuyuhiko looked over his shoulder.  


“I’ll keep my promises,” he said, “but that doesn’t mean we’re buddies. As far as I’m concerned, the two of you helped bring down my family as much as Shadowfuck did. If I ever run into you guys on the streets, I’ll probably kill you.”  


With that, he and the Dragon’s Tooth disappeared. Usami and Kyoko were left alone in the destroyed throne room. Charred bodies littered the floor, along with Fuyuhiko’s blood. Smoke hung in the air, with the smell of burned cloth. The duo looked over the devastation.  


“The sword will lure her back to crime,” Kyoko said. “And he’ll follow.”  


“Maybe,” Usami said. “Or maybe she’ll rise above the influence. They seem close, and if he can be a better person she can follow him. This is the best chance at a fresh start they’ll get. What better odds could any of us ask for?”  


Kyoko looked in the direction they had vanished. “I hope you’re right. Is there any chance you can get us out of here by some alternate route, or are we going to have to follow them?”  


“Follow,” Usami said. “They’ve had enough of a head start though, right?”  


“There is only one way to find out,” Kyoko said. She walked toward the entrance. Usami floated behind, and her umbrella of light faded.  


The duo retraced their steps out of the hideout, up the ladder and into the storage room, then into the destroyed bar and out onto the street. Fuyuhiko and the Dragon’s Tooth were nowhere to be seen. The night had grown cold, and as the two stood outside snow began to fall.  


“Already?” Usami asked.  


“It’s late November,” Kyoko said. “I’m surprised we haven’t gotten any until now.”  


Usami looked at Kyoko. “Do you think they’ll be alright?”  


Kyoko shrugged. “This is the bed they made. Now they get to lay in it.”  


Usami kicked at the ground. “So that’s it. The Kuzuryu are gone.”  


“Not quite,” Kyoko said. “Whatever flowery promises their boss made, the fact is there are a number of Kuzuryu members still running around the city. Unless Fuyuhiko sends out a mass cease and desist, they’ll continue their crime sprees. Plus there’s all the convicts from the mass breakout that still haven’t been caught.”  


Usami sighed. “Yeah, but...that was it. Fuyuhiko’s been taken down. After Monokuma and before Kamukura, Fuyuhiko had been the big bad of Hope’s Peak. And now his era is over.”  


“It’s a new day for the city,” Kyoko said. “If we make sure nothing worse pops up to fill the void, maybe the city will start to take real steps at moving on from the death and destruction.”  


“Hopefully the police can keep that from happening,” Usami said. “They’re getting better at dealing with super threats.”  


Kyoko frowned. “And they’re resentment towards supers grows with those skills. I haven’t had a chance to tell you before now, but I believe the opinion the officers hold of us has fallen. Their behavior over the past weeks is most easily explained by resentment. We should try to limit overt interference for a while.”  


“Is that why you didn’t let them in on our plan to take down Fuyuhiko?” Usami asked.  


Kyoko nodded. “That, and I didn’t want to endanger their lives.”  


Usami smiled. “Boy, I can’t imagine what that feels like.”  


Kyoko rolled her eyes. “Usami, if you ever cut me out of the loop again I will make it my mission to discover your identity and insert myself into your daily routine in annoying ways.”  


Usami held up her hands. “Sorry, sorry, I won’t. Really. Brains and brawn, mundane and magical, our strengths complement each other way too much. Just promise you’ll be more open about Kamukura’s threats. With Fuyu-Fuyu out of the way, I’m sure we’re at the top of his priority again.”  


Kyoko tapped the side of her face. “Good point. I will do my best. No promises.”  


Usami groaned.  


“Speaking of Kamukura, you should switch your focus back to him,” Kyoko said. “I can handle the clean-up for tonight, and trying to track down the loose ends. But I need you to verify Hinata’s recent activities. Now is the best time to cross reference Hinata’s latest actions with the events of tonight, but the more time that passes the harder it will be to verify every detail.”  


Usami nodded. “I’ll try to track him down as soon as I can.”  


“Please do,” Kyoko said. “Especially if he’s joined up with the Kuzuryu as a new underling, this would be the perfect time for Kamakura to claim leadership in the group. We can’t allow that.”  


“Agreed,” Usami said. “I’ll frisk Hinata until I’m sure he’s done nothing bad.”  


Her wings began to flap.  


“What a night,” she said. “This morning we were awkward, now we’re besties. The war with the Kuzuryu is over. Actually, it was only like a month, right? That’s more of a battle than a war. And we’ve got snow. So much has changed.”  


“You sound like your rambling,” Kyoko said. “Go get some sleep. I’ll wrap this up.”  


Usami yawned. “Yeah, thanks. If you need anything, you know how to call me.”  


The magical girl rose into the sky, and streaked away.

* * *

Chiaki poked her head into the Vorpal Mist. She was dressed in a winter coat and wore a knit hat with cat ears on her head. The people around her wore similar coats, though her hat drew a few looks. Outside, the snow fell at a gentle rate and layered the roadways in white powder.  


Chiaki stepped into the cafe and looked around. The table she and Hajime frequented was occupied. Most of the other tables were also in use. Other people stood by the walls and sipped at their drinks. Hajime was nowhere to be seen.  


The gamer frowned and left.  


This pattern continued for days. Chiaki would visit the cafe, look for Hajime, and not find him. She tried to visit at different times, on different days, but still she never crossed his path. Her newsfeed filled with stories of the drop in major crimes, and the rise of minor crimes. It took a week before news stories of Fuyuhiko’s disappearance began to circulate. And still Hajime was nowhere to be found.  


Chiaki began to visit the cafe multiple times a day. When nothing worked, she went to an extreme. Chiaki waited for the last hour of the Vorpal Mist’s business, and then set out. The evening was cold, as all winter evenings are, and the wind was strong. Chiaki pulled her coat tighter around her and kept her gaze forward.  


She stepped into the Vorpal Mist and went through her routine scan. Compared to the cold and dark outside the building, the warm lighting and wood decorations created an invited mood. The few patrons who lounged at tables looked comfortable and content.  


Hajime was not among them.  


Chiaki closed her eyes and sighed. Someone spoke loud enough for their voice to carry across the room, but Chiaki ignored it. She blew on her cold fingers and saw the steam that rose from the beverages of the other patrons.  


She trudged up to the counter and looked at the menu. The person standing behind the counter spoke to her, but their words went in one ear and out the other. Chiaki stared through the menu. Her eyes began to slide shut and she yawned.  


The employee behind the counter knocked on the wood. “Uh...NaNaChi? Earth to NaNaChi?”  


Chiaki blinked. She looked at the employee and her eyes widened.  


Hajime gave an awkward smile. “Hey there. How’s life been?”

* * *

When the Vorpal Mist closed, Hajime removed his apron, pulled on a winter coat, and waved goodbye to the manager. He stepped out into the cold night. Chiaki waited for him just outside the door.  


“Ready?” She asked.  


Hajime nodded. “Which way are you headed?”  


Chiaki pointed down the street.  


“Cool,” Hajime said. “Shall we?”  


They set off in the direction Chiaki had pointed. The two of them walked in silence. Hajime glanced at Chiaki multiple times.  


“Nice hat,” he said.  


“...Thanks,” Chiaki said.  


He cleared his throat.  


“You never did answer my question. How’s life been?” he said.  


Chiaki’s gaze slid over to him.  


“You first,” she said.  


Hajime’s brow furrowed. “Huh?”  


“It’s been more than two weeks since we last met up,” Chiaki said. “What have you been up to?”  


Hajime scratched his head. “Oh. Nothing much.”  


Chiaki frowned.  


Hajime backpedaled. “I mean, I’ve been working enough that I haven’t had much time to do anything interesting.”  


Chiaki relaxed. “I see. It sounds like you’ve been busy.”  


Hajime nodded. “It’s been awhile since I last worked a register. I forgot how hectic the business rushes can get.”  


“Is it different from bartending?” Chiaki asked.  


Hajime shrugged. “Kind of. There are some skills that carry over. Enough that I’m not at a complete loss.”  


“I see,” Chiaki said.  


They walked for another block. Chiaki stared up at the night sky.  


“Who knew your next job was going to be right under our noses the whole time,” she said.  


Hajime chuckled. “Right? I spend all that time looking for any job that will take me, and then I end up working at our meeting place.”  


“How did that happen?” Chiaki asked.  


“I was waiting for you at the Mist, a few days after our last meeting,” Hajime explained. He paused, and his face reddened. “I’m sorry about that, by the way. I was moody, and ended up coming off harsher than I’d wanted.”  


Chiaki waved his apology away. “No worries.”  


Hajime smiled. “Anyway, I was waiting, and I saw the manager put up a ‘Help Wanted’ sign. I didn’t have much faith in my ability to get the job, but after I considered everything I thought it couldn’t hurt to try applying.”  


“It seems to have worked out,” Chiaki said.  


“You could say that again,” Hajime said. “And I have you to thank for that.”  


Chiaki rose an eyebrow. “Me?”  


Hajime nodded. “I would have never known about the Vorpal Mist if you hadn’t brought me there. And I wouldn’t have known the menu as well as I did if we hadn’t met up there so often. The manager said that between my experience and the knowledge I already had about the drinks, I was like a gift from the heavens.”  


“So the manager didn’t have a problem with your condition?” Chiaki asked.  


Hajime coughed. “I, uh...didn’t tell him about it. I played off my previous jobs as a series of unfortunate mishaps. He seemed sympathetic to my problems.”  


Chiaki yawned. “...That’s good. I’m glad someone gave you a chance. Is this job going to be enough to keep you on your feet?”  


“It should be,” Hajime said. “Right now I’m only at part-time, but with how badly the cafe needs help I should be able to get bumped up to full-time pretty quick. Plus I’ll be working more mornings at that point, which is always a bonus.”  


Hajime scratched at his face. “I, uh...usually have less episodes during the day.”  


Another frown tugged at Chiaki’s lips. “Have you had an episode lately?”  


Hajime nodded. “Yeah. It was pretty bad.”  


“How?” Chiaki asked.  


One of Hajime’s hands went up to his shoulder and began to massage it. “My body hurt. A lot. I was glad I didn’t work that day.”  


He saw Chiaki’s downcast look. His words tumbled out one after another. “It’s okay. There’s nothing to worry about. I feel much better now. What about you? Is everything okay on your end? Is your cousin alright?”  


“Hm?” Chiaki said. “Oh. Yeah. They got out of the hospital over a week ago. I wanted them to relax a bit, but they jumped right back into their work.”  


Hajime whistled. “That’s dedication.”  


Chiaki hummed in agreement.  


“Everything else okay?” Hajime asked.  


Chiaki shrugged. “I’ve been worried. About you.”  


Hajime blinked. “...Oh. Uh, why?”  


“The streets have been pretty bad lately,” Chiaki said. “After our last conversation, I was worried you were going to get mixed up with dark things. The longer I went without seeing you, the worse my fears became.”  


Hajime swallowed. “Yeah, I can kinda see why you’d worry about that.”  


He paused, and collected himself. With a deep breath, he continued.  


“I won’t lie and say crime didn’t cross my mind,” Hajime said. “But when I considered everything we talked about, I decided that I agreed with you. The costs to others outweigh my own gain. And besides, when I finally could support myself, I wanted it to be in a way I could tell others about while looking them in the eye.”  


Hajime rubbed his hands together to warm them up. “I mean, a part-time job at a cafe isn’t exactly something to be proud of either-”  


“I’m proud of you,” Chiaki interrupted. “And I’m relieved to hear you say all that.”  


Hajime looked at her blank expression. He gave a small smile. “Could have fooled me.”  


Their walk continued for a few more blocks, until they came to a train station.  


“This is probably the best place to part,” Chiaki said.  


Hajime checked the time. “Yeah. I don’t want to miss my ride home.”  


He turned to head into the subway, then paused.  


“Sorry about not telling you earlier,” he said. “I had wanted to surprise you with my job. I didn’t think it would take so long to run into each other, or that I would cause you to worry.”  


Chiaki shook her head. “No worries. And thank you.”  


“For what?” he asked.  


“Your comment during my Bountiful Beachland stream,” Chiaki said. “It really helped.”  


Hajime blinked. “You read that?”  


Chiaki nodded.  


Hajime coughed. “Cool. I’m glad it helped you make up your mind.”  


Chiaki took a step closer. “Sometimes I worry that I overthink personal decisions. I consider too many ways things can go wrong when I should just take a risk. It’s good to have a push.”  


She took another step, and Hajime gulped. “I didn’t know you took dating sims so seriously.”  


“...I’m not talking about dating sims,” Chiaki said.  


Hajime’s voice rose in pitch. “Oh.”  


She held up her cell phone. “Can we swap numbers? Between our fluctuating schedules, it’s getting hard to keep meeting up like we have been. It would probably be easier if we could contact each other.”  


Hajime looked between her and the phone. “I can have your number?”  


Chiaki nodded. “Just as long as you don’t sell it online or anything.”  


“I won’t, I won’t,” he said. He held up his own phone and they transferred their contact information. Hajime showed her the new contact in his phone book.  


“Is this the right spelling?” He asked. The contact name read NaNaChi.  


Chiaki frowned. She swiped the phone from his hand and re-typed the name. She handed it back to him.  


“Nanami,” she emphasized. “Nanami Chiaki. We’re close enough you can use my real name now.”  


“Nanami,” Hajime repeated. His voice had a slight tone of wonder to it.  


Chiaki smiled a small smile. “Yes. Have a good night, Hinata. Text me when you’re free next.”  


Hajime nodded. “Definitely. Have a good night, and be safe...Nanami.”  


They parted ways. Hajime vanished into the subway system. Chiaki wandered off down the street. The snow continued to dance from the sky to the ground. When she was alone, Chiaki vanished in a beam of light.  


Magical Girl Usami reappeared on a rooftop. She looked down at the phone in her hand.  


“Yes!” She yelled into the night. “Number acquired! And he’s not a criminal! Whoo!”  


She sat down on the edge of the roof. Her wings stretched out behind her. “Ooh, I can’t wait to tell Alter Ego about this. They’ll be so surprised. I asked a boy for his number and got it. I’m, like, such a sophisticated woman now. And Kiri should be proud, too. It’ll be way easier to keep tabs on him this way.”  


The magical girl threw herself into the air. “Speaking of Kiri,” she muttered as she fell.  


Usami soared through the night sky, doing twirls and loops. She flew over one of the residential areas of the city, to a humble apartment complex. She landed on the building next to it and watched.  


On the street level, Kyoko walked into the lobby of the building, with a small box and table in her arms. Despite the weight and cumbersome shapes, Kyoko kept a good posture and powered through.  


Usami smiled. “Hinata’s good. Kiri’s got a home. We’re good. The Kuzuryu are done. Everything’s good.”  


Usami fell onto her back. “I wonder who the next big player in Hope’s Peak is gonna be, though?”  


The snow offered no reply. Flakes fell onto her body, and Usami giggled at the touch.  


Inside the apartment, Kyoko struggled to unlock a door and half walked, half fell, through the entryway. She recovered and set up the small folded table, then unpacked the box of notes she held onto it. She glanced outside, at the snow, before she returned to her work.  


In another residential area, Hajime stepped out of a subway station and walked toward his own apartment. His phone was still in his hand, and he continued to stare at the new number he had obtained. He smiled.  


* * *

Across the city, a man sat in an office, surrounded by papers. He was young, and wore a simple suit. His hair was too long to be considered short but too short to be considered long, and a single lock stuck up out of his head like an antenna. The papers were tests, with paragraphs of information scrawled across them. The man sorted through each paper with a red pen, making marks or notes. He held a phone in between his ear and shoulder.  


“Yeah, it’s taking longer than I’d thought,” he said. “That’s what we get for assigning so many essay questions. I don’t think I’ll finish anytime soon, but I want to make a dent in it before I head home. Go ahead and head to bed, Sis.”  


The person on the other end of the phone spoke, and the man laughed. “No cute girls, I promise. Really, it’s these tests. I’ll see you when I get home. Bye.”  


The man hung up and leaned back in his chair. He looked out a window behind him and watched the snow fall. It seemed to captivate his attention, and he stood up. He smiled at the flakes.  


“More snowfall, huh,” Naegi Makoto mused. “I hope it brings good luck with it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew. That was fun to write, and I'm so pumped I actually finished an entire story arc for MGU. I guess I'm ready to double down on this fic.
> 
> Next update will have a slight delay while Kyoko furnishes her new apartment and Makoto grades tests.


	7. Truth and Subterfuge, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A crime too easy to solve crosses Kirigiri's path.

The halls of Hope’s Peak Academy were dark. The lights had been turned off and the classrooms were closed. The shadows blurred the details of the walls, which turned the corridors into formless tunnels.  


A man pushed a cart labelled ‘sanitation’ down one hallway. He stopped next to a classroom that was still open. The light was on, and the man could see someone sat behind the desk at the front of the room.  


Inside the classroom, Naegi Makoto yawned. A stack of papers sat in front of him, each a handwritten essay. Makoto picked up the top paper. His unfocused eyes scanned over the scrawled words.  


He sighed. “Looks like my tutoring wasn’t as helpful as I’d hoped. Or is the social contract a little too difficult for second-years?”  


He took out a red pen and circled an entire paragraph on the essay. At the bottom, he wrote a number and some comments. After a pause, he added a smiling face and the words _Good Effort!_  


“Everyone tried really hard with this test,” Makoto said to himself. “I don’t want these results to ruin their moods. Especially with the holiday weekend around the corner.”  


The man coughed, and Makoto glanced up. He flushed.  


“Hello,” he said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there. Did my talking worry you? Normally I’m good at keeping all my thoughts in my head, but when I’m tired it can leak out. Sorry.”  


Makoto glanced at the time on his phone. “Ack! I’ve been here too long. I’m sorry, I’ll leave now.”  


Makoto shuffled the essays into a folder and tucked it under his arm. The man gave him a curt nod and continued on down the hall. Makoto left the classroom, and flicked off the light as he did. He walked the opposite direction of the janitor. As he walked, he pulled a small pair of headphones out of his pocket and slipped them over his ears.  


Down the hallway, there was a second classroom with its light on and door open. Makoto glanced at it as he came closer. He slipped one ear free from the headphones and called out “Hello?”  


There was no answer. Makoto slowed down and approached the room. A plate over the doorway labeled the room ‘Photography’. Makoto’s eyebrows came together when he read the label.  


“Ms. Sato?” he called into the room. There was no answer.  


Makoto stopped in front of the door. The door was ajar, and light spilled out into the hallway. With some hesitation, Makoto pushed the door open wider and poked his head into the room. “Ms. Sato, are you still here-”  


His breath caught. His face paled, and the essays slipped out of his hand. The pages spilled onto the floor of the photography room. The essays that fluttered farthest into the room were ruined by the puddles of blood they fell in. At the center of the blood puddles was the body of a woman with long black hair, whose head had been caved in.  


Makoto stumbled back into the hallway. He stared at the woman’s face, obscured by hair matted with blood except for her broken jaw and one eye. Her dead gaze peered back at him.  


When Makoto could breathe again, he began to scream.

* * *

Kirigiri Kyoko sat in her new office space. The room was furnished with the bare essentials: A lamp in the corner, some certificates and awards on the walls that showed signs of minor fire damage, and a desk with a chair on both sides. The desk faced the door, which was locked, and curtains had been hung to hide the other room and hallway that connected to the office from view.  


On the desk were notes, a letter, and a framed picture. The notes were a list of escaped criminals, each with their own profiles, last sightings, and sources. The letter was a bank statement that listed a handful of deposits and a larger number of withdrawals. The picture was of a man in his mid-thirties, with dark hair and a simple smile.  


Kyoko picked up the bank notice, looked it over again, and then slipped it into a desk drawer. She flipped through the pages she had on the escaped convicts, and made the occasional note in a small book she held onto.  


A knock on her door caused her to pause. She glanced up at her door. With careful moves she stood up and approached it. The detective peered through the small eyehole in the center of her door. Then she moved to the microphone installed in wall.  


She pushed a button on the mic. “State your business.”  


After a moment, the voice of an uncertain girl came through the speaker attached to the mic. “Uh...Are you detective Kirigiri? I’m looking for her.”  


“Why?” Kyoko asked.  


The girl’s voice came close to breaking. “I need her help.”  


Kyoko sighed and unlocked her door.  


The girl that stood on the other side looked up in surprise. She wilted under Kyoko’s hard stare.  


“Come in,” Kyoko invited.  


The detective walked back to her desk and stood by her chair. The girl followed with hesitant steps. She was just shorter than Kyoko, and her dark brown hair was cut into a stylish short bob. When she took her jacket off she revealed a t-shirt for Hope’s Peak’s State University.  


Kyoko motioned toward the chair opposite from hers and the girl sat. She hunched over herself and clutched her jacket to her body. Kyoko slid into her own chair and folded her hands in her lap.  


“What is your name?” Kyoko asked.  


The girl glanced at Kyoko’s face. “Um...Naegi. Naegi Komaru.”  


Kyoko nodded. “I am Detective Kirigiri. Before we continue I need you to understand that like most other things in the world, my services come at a price. As a new client coming to me with a new case, I will provide you with one free consultation on your situation. Just one. If you wish for my help with your problem, then you will have to explain to me every pertinent detail you know right now. I have no time to waste pulling information out of you.”  


Komaru shuffled in her seat. “Okay.”  


“What brings you to my office?” Kyoko asked.  


Komaru took a deep breath.  


“It’s my brother,” Komaru explained. “He’s been accused of...murder.”  


Komaru waited, but Kyoko had no reaction, so the girl continued.  


“The night before last, my brother was at his school late,” she said. “He had a bunch of papers to grade, so he was there later than everyone else. When he got up to leave, he found a body in one of the other rooms. He called the police, who came to investigate. They took his statement, looked over the area, and brought him home. He was pretty upset, so we stayed up late trying to calm down.”  


Komaru swallowed. “The next morning, I woke up to my brother pleading with someone on the phone. It turns out when the administrators at my brother’s school heard about what happened, they suspended him. We didn’t understand why. Then the police showed up again and took him away for more questioning. That’s when he found out that he’s the prime suspect.”  


Her eyes narrowed. “Apparently the police took one look around, couldn’t find anyone to support my brother’s alibi, and decided that was enough to make him the prime suspect. They spent hours trying to convince him to confess. He wouldn’t do it though. So they dropped him back off at home and told him not to leave town until all this was finished.”  


Komaru twisted the jacket between her hands as her explanation grew louder and faster. “After he told me all that, he started to drift around our home. He just wanted to report a crime, and now the law is against him and his job might be gone. Neither of us know who we can turn to. We talked about finding a lawyer, but they’re expensive and I doubt anyone would want to defend a man who's been unfairly labelled a killer.”  


Komaru looked at Kyoko and fought to hold her gaze. “Then I found out about you. I’ve heard you’re the best detective in the nation. You specialize in violent crimes too, right? I thought, if anyone could find the evidence to prove my brother’s innocence, it would be you.”  


Komaru trailed off. Kyoko took her silence as an invitation.  


“I see,” the detective said. “So you want me to investigate this case, to try and clear your brother’s name.”  


Komaru nodded.  


Kyoko reached into one of her drawers and pulled out a laminated piece of paper. She handed it to Komaru, who looked it over with confusion. “What’s all-”  


“My rates,” Kyoko interrupted. “As I said, my services come at a price. If you want me to take a single step out of this office, first you’ll have to give me a deposit of three-hundred and thirty-five thousand yen.”  


The girl paled, but Kyoko continued to speak. “I’ll use that money as a launchpad for my investigation. When I’ve fulfilled my side of the contract, I will send you a receipt itemizing the expenses that were incurred over the course of the investigation, and however much money you may still owe me. I charge around eleven thousand yen an hour for my services, plus an additional fifty-five yen per kilometer I have to travel. Vehicle transportation costs, lodging, and whatever food or other resources I require to maintain a long-term investigation will also fall back on you. Although it is much rarer than travel, if I have to rely on a professional contact to obtain information or analyze evidence then their compensation will also be treated as an expense.”  


Komaru appeared stunned into silence, and still Kyoko was not finished. “All of those initial expenses will be balanced against your deposit. If the investigation flows smoother than expected, and my fees fall short of the total, then I will refund you the difference. It happens more often than not, but you should still be prepared to pay an additional charge at the conclusion of the investigation. Just in case events become troublesome. If you cannot pay the additional amount within a two-week period, I will consider my services stolen and open a civil case against you.”  


Kyoko adjusted a lock of her hair. “I haven’t lost one yet. I suggest you only hire me if you are completely sure you can afford it.”  


Komaru opened her mouth, and then closed it again.  


“Three-hundred...thirty-five thousand…” she stuttered.  


Kyoko nodded. “As an initial expense, yes. If you wish to generalize it, assume an average investigation will cost one-hundred thousand a day. If I take longer than three days to complete the investigation, you will have to pay more.”  


Komaru’s voice rose. “I don’t have that kind of money.”  


Kyoko rose an eyebrow. “You mean you researched who I was without looking into my rates?”  


“No one ever mentioned those,” Komaru protested. “Or if they did, it was drowned out by the dozens of articles that paint you as a big defender of the citizens. You helped a ton of people during the riots. There are even rumors you faced off against Monokuma and lived.”  


Her shoulders fell. “I thought a hero like that would be a little more charitable.”  


Kyoko’s expression never wavered. “And I suppose you would also hope a city that would praise me as a hero would be a little more charitable towards me. Unfortunately, neither I nor Hope’s Peak are as kind as online articles might paint us. Like everyone else, I still have basic necessities I must fulfill in my life, and for that I need money. Unlike almost everyone else, my paycheck is not guaranteed. Hate me for it if you wish, but I don’t plan on sacrificing the opportunity my talents have given me just because one university girl thinks it’s unfair from her limited and self-centered position.”  


Komaru went silent again. Her face had flushed and her expression was caught between a glare and open weeping.  


Kyoko leaned back in her chair. “Perhaps it’s time to reconsider your lawyer options.”  


“It’s not like I can afford one of those either,” Komaru snapped. “Do I look like I’m made of money?”  


“If you’re set on hiring me, and concerned about your financial situation, I am open to negotiating a time limit,” Kyoko said. “A threshold that I won’t cross, so as not to put you in a position where you will not be able to pay me. Two-hundred thousand yen would buy us enough time for me to at least put you and your brother in the right direction, if I can’t find a complete answer.”  


Komaru shook her head. “I can’t even afford half that.”  


“No one is suggesting you pay this on your own,” Kyoko said. “This is ultimately for your brother’s sake. Could he not help cover the expense?”  


Komaru’s eyes almost flashed with anger. “Why does everyone assume my brother has money? Even if he does work for Hope’s Peak Academy, a teacher is still a teacher. They don’t make fortunes.”  


Kyoko’s eyes narrowed a fraction. “You didn’t mention the school he worked for was the Academy.”  


“Why does it matter?” Komaru asked.  


Kyoko tapped the side of her face with a finger. She stared Komaru down again.  


“Ms. Naegi,” she said, “do you know why the police have made your brother the prime suspect in this murder? Because statistically, he is the culprit. He likely reported the body as an unconscious desire to be punished.”  


Komaru flared up again. “You don’t know anything about my brother.”  


“I know about people,” Kyoko retorted. “Especially the kind of people like you. When they come to me, feeling helpless and cornered, they aren’t looking for the truth. They’re looking for a miracle. They want someone to validate their denial. Someone who will prove that their spouse isn’t cheating on them, that their friend isn’t a criminal, that their child isn’t dead. But I don’t care for miracles. Knowing that, are you still committed to defending your brother?”  


Komaru swallowed. “Even if I’m the last one doing it.”  


Kyoko sighed. “Very well. I have one final offer.”  


She held up a single finger. “I will investigate your brother’s case, free of charge, for exactly one day. If, by tomorrow, you cannot pay me or if I have no reason to think your brother is innocent, then I will drop the investigation. If I somehow solve the murder within that day, I will go straight to the police with my evidence and have this cleared up. Do we have an agreement?”  


Komaru frowned. She thought about Kyoko’s offer.  


“If you do solve it, will you still go to the police, even if I can’t pay you?” Komaru asked.  


Kyoko nodded.  


“And I have until this time tomorrow to come up with three-hundred thousand yen?” Komaru clarified.  


“Three-hundred thirty-five thousand,” Kyoko corrected.  


Komaru’s frown deepend. “Right.”  


She stood from her chair. “I suppose I’ll take you up on your offer. It’s the best chance we’ve got anyway.”  


Kyoko nodded. “Understood. Is there anything else you can tell me about the case? Time is of the essence and the more details I know, the smoother the investigation will go.”  


Komaru paused. “My brother’s name is Makoto. He teaches philosophy. He’s friendly, social, and cares a lot for the people around him. The teacher who died was named Sato, and it sounded like she and my brother got along well. I don’t know if they were friends, but he mentioned they were around the same age and would swap jokes. He never once said a negative thing about her.”  


“Were they romantically involved?” Kyoko asked.  


Komaru grimaced. “I hope not. My brother has awful taste in women.”  


Kyoko made a note.  


“Anything else?” Kyoko asked.  


Komaru shook her head.  


Kyoko rose from her seat. “Very well. Thank you for your visit, Ms. Naegi. We will speak more tomorrow.”  


“Yeah, sure,” Komaru muttered. She pulled her jacket back on and shuffled out of the office. Kyoko followed her to the door, and once Komaru was gone locked it. She returned to her desk and tucked her notes on the escaped convicts aside. She dug through her desk till she found a fresh pocket notebook, opened the first page, and wrote the name Naegi Makoto.  


Kyoko took a few minutes to organize her thoughts on what Komaru had told her, then closed the notebook and slipped it into her pocket. She looked at the photo of the man on her desk again. She frowned.  


“I suppose it is time for a courtesy visit,” she said to herself.

* * *

Hope’s Peak Academy resided on a large plot of land near the center of the city. It was surrounded by a small forest that acted as a border between the school and the rest of Hope’s Peak. A single road stretched through the trees and connected the city to the school. With the forest bare of leaves and frozen over, the drive down the road was less serene and more ominous.  


The Academy itself was a large brick fortress, with four levels. Countless windows provided snapshots of life inside the prestigious school. A gym was built into one side of the building, while a two-level dorm connected to the other. A small wall outlined the perimeter of the school grounds.  


Kyoko drove through the open gate and pulled into a visitor lot. She exited her car, with a single spared glance at the slashes above the driver-side door and the broken side mirror, then locked it and walked toward the entrance. She passed by a reserved parking spot next to the front door. The lot had been scorched, and there were cracks in the pavement. The spot was labeled _Headmaster_.  


Kyoko inspected the spot, then continued into the Academy. The interior architecture was of the highest quality; the space was designed to feel as large as possible. Rows of shoe lockers lined the walls, and the entrance opened up to a hallway that stretched off to Kyoko’s left and right. In the center of the entrance was a small memorial.  


The core of the memorial was a large photograph of a young woman. She had long black hair that rolled down her body in waves, and an intense stare. Her eyes seemed hard, even though she smiled in the photo. Under the photograph was a note.  


“The worst deaths are not experienced by those who die young, but by those whose death’s create no impact,” Kyoko read. “Ms. Sato’s short yet significant stay at our Academy will be remembered long after we have all gone to join her.”  


Flowers and decorations had been set up around the photograph. Dozens of hand-written notes were gathered in a pile at the foot of the memorial. Kyoko knelt and sorted through them.  


_We’ll miss you Ms Sato!_  


_That bastard Naegi will get what’s coming to him._  


_Failed me just before the end of the year and then died on me. Bitch._  


_You didn’t deserve this._  


_I should have told you I loved you._  


_Even if the law doesn’t find him guilty, I’ll kill Naegi for this. This city needs more justice._  


Kyoko read every word the students had left at the memorial, then stood up and looked at the photo of Sato one last time. She gave a small bow to the image, then walked around it and down the hallway.  


The detective headed to her left, her gaze set forward. The floors were black-and-white checkered tile, and the walls were polished clean. The classrooms Kyoko passed all had their doors closed, but the sounds of teachers in the middle of lessons seeped out from behind the barriers.  


When Kyoko reached the stairs, she saw a camera nestled into the corner where the wall met the ceiling. She paused and adjusted her hair, which gave the camera a direct view of her face.  


Kyoko went up the stairs, to the second floor. Signs pointed toward a library, an indoor pool, and a photography lab. Kyoko went the direction that pointed toward the lab. As she approached, she saw the room was blocked off with police tape. An officer stood guard outside the room. He frowned when Kyoko approached.  


“Ma’am, please vacate the area. We are in the middle of a criminal investigation,” he said.  


Kyoko nodded at him and continued to approach. The officer grimaced. He stepped into Kyoko’s path.  


“Leave,” he said with a stronger tone.  


“I have no plans to disturb the scene,” Kyoko said to him. “I’ll stay outside of the room.”  


The officer shook his head. “Not good enough. I have orders.”  


“I see,” Kyoko said. She stepped around him and glanced into the room. “Orders to interfere with any investigations into the death that took place here?”  


All she had time to see were empty shelves before the officer stepped into her line of sight. “Orders to make sure only authorized personnel have access to the crime scene,” he emphasized.  


Kyoko rose an eyebrow. “I believe anyone in your major crimes division could attest to my credentials.”  


The officer frowned. “Yeah, I heard a lot about you. Got some warnings to make sure you especially didn’t come around.”  


Kyoko crossed her arms. “Yet here I stand. So what do you do now?”  


The officer shrugged. “Call in other cops to pick you up. Interfering with an investigation.”  


“A weak claim,” Kyoko dismissed. “One that could potentially open your department up to a civil suit.”  


The officer seemed relaxed. “Eh, maybe. It gets you out of here for today, though.”  


Kyoko measured the officer with her eyes. Behind his bravado, the man began to fold.  


The detective took a step back. “I can only hope your superiors are acting with the best intentions for the city, and not out of some newborn pride. We can’t afford to be turning on each other the moment the darkness goes quiet.”  


The officer rolled his neck. “Quiet is good. I lost a buddy to the Kuzuryu last month. I got lucky and only took a knife to the arm. I’d rather let the darkness sleep than help you poke it until it wakes up again.”  


Kyoko began to walk away. “A slothful attitude. Thinking like that will leave you open for the next threat. Face reality head on.”  


The officer glared. He rose his voice.  


“Tell that to his widow,” he called after Kyoko.  


Kyoko chose not to respond. She returned to the stairs and traveled up to the third floor. Signs for a music hall, a data center, and faculty offices hung by the third floor opening. Kyoko followed the signs for the faculty office. They lead her to a separate corridor, with a large office for teachers to gather to the right. At the other end of the corridor was a closed door.  


Kyoko headed straight for the closed door. Teachers in the office noticed Kyoko, and reacted with their own surprised expressions. Jaw dropped, eyes widened, and objects slipped from hands. Kyoko pretended not to notice their gazes, marched up to the door, and put her hand on the handle.  


The nameplate on the door read _Headmaster Kirigiri Jin_.  


Kyoko’s eyes narrowed a fraction, and she pushed the door open.  


The headmaster’s office felt tight and small after the open architecture of the rest of Hope’s Peak Academy. To Kyoko’s left was a glass case full of awards for national recognition the school had received over the decades. To her right was a series of cabinets that held a collection of leather-bound books. The centerpiece of the room was a set of two small couches that faced each other, with a coffee table between them. A desk was on the other side of the couches.  


One man stood by the desk, while another sat at it. The man who stood wore a white suit and flat brimmed hat to match. His dark blonde hair appeared to be a controlled mess that hung around his head, while his goatee and faint mustache looked groomed. He was in the middle of a laugh when Kyoko burst into the room, and his laugh turned into a strange gurgle at the sight of the detective.  


The man who sat behind the desk was older than he looked in the photograph that sat on Kyoko’s desk. His dark hair was now gray at the tips, and his face now had a few extra wrinkles around the eyes and mouth. His piercing gaze was a perfect match to Kyoko’s. He had no outer reaction when Kyoko appeared.  


Kyoko looked at the man who stood. “Kizakura Koichi.”  


Her attention turned to the man behind the desk. Her voice took on an edge. “Jin.”  


Jin echoed her tone. “Kyoko.”  


Koichi looked between the two Kirigiris. “Oooooh boy...I was hoping to duck out of here before she showed up, I’ll be honest.”  


Without looking away from Kyoko, Jin said “You are free to leave. Could you escort our uninvited guest to the entrance when you do?”  


“I can leave on my own,” Kyoko interjected, “once you’ve answered my questions.”  


“Did the police give you a badge when you joined their ranks?” Jin asked. “I’ll have to see that and a warrant before I answer anything.”  


Kyoko narrowed her eyes. “Don’t waste my time.”  


Jin crossed his hands in his lap. “My sentiments exactly.”  


They stared each other down. Koichi pulled the brim of his hat a fraction lower. “Well, Kyoko, since you made the trouble to come all the way out here, you should stay for a drink. I’ll brew some tea-”  


“Don’t bother,” both Jin and Kyoko said.  


Koichi sighed. “Always the same routine,” he muttered.  


“What were the grounds on which you suspended Naegi Makoto?” Kyoko asked.  


“What is your relationship to that man?” Jin responded. “A simple open-and-close murder case isn’t one you normally investigate, busy as you are chasing psychopaths and monsters.”  


“And I suppose the murder of one of your faculty is so simple it isn’t newsworthy,” Kyoko replied, “since I couldn’t find any articles about it. Unless someone has been interfering with anyone trying to look into Sato’s death.”  


Her lips twitched into a sneer. “I can’t imagine who would want to do that.”  


Jin waved Kyoko’s accusation away. “If you couldn’t find any articles about the murder, you must have heard about it from a source. I imagine Naegi came to you for help in digging him out of an impossible situation?”  


“It’s unfortunate that a young teacher has to try and rely on a total stranger for help, despite the loyalty he’d shown his employer,” Kyoko said. “The shock when you suspended him must have been enormous.”  


“The shock shouldn’t have been that large,” Jin responded. “He should have known he wouldn’t remain on staff after he murdered a co-worker.”  


Kyoko rose an eyebrow. “Last I heard the investigation was still open. Do you know some piece of evidence proving Naegi was the killer, that you have chosen to withhold?”  


“Of course not,” Jin said. “I am a proper citizen of Hope’s Peak. I comply with the law to the fullest of my ability, instead of believing I am superior to them. Perhaps that is why I’m not on their bad side.”  


“Or maybe you just know the right people,” Kyoko fired back. “The kind who would look at your suspension of Naegi as all the proof they need to wrap this case up quietly. To take the easy route and boost their statistics. To maintain appearances. You friends have learned well from you.”  


“And more of their cases could end quickly and quietly if arrogant children stopped interfering with their jobs, and pulling extra people into their conflicts,” Jin said with a harsher tone. He took a quiet breath to calm himself, then added “I’ve been told I have you to thank for my destroyed car.”  


Kyoko adjusted a lock of her hair. “You have the bomber to thank, or the Kuzuryu member who ordered it. You can’t blame me for the poor choices criminals make. Anyway, I don’t see what the problem is. You’re alive, and taking obvious steps to make sure the profitability of your school isn’t damaged by the murder of an innocent woman. Your priorities appear as morally bankrupt as always.”  


Koichi leaned a little to put himself in Kyoko’s view. “That’s a little unfair. In a city like Hope’s Peak, keeping our students safe requires a tiny dose of discretion.”  


“Really?” Kyoko asked. “I’d love to hear more. Right now it just seems like you’re throwing the first person you can find to the wolves in order to bury Sato’s murder. What could be happening behind the scenes to justify that?”  


Koichi hesitated. He looked at Jin. The headmaster remained silent.  


“I thought so,” Kyoko said.  


“Your interference is unnecessary,” Jin said. “If your only reason to visit was to stick your nose where it doesn’t belong, then this meeting is over.”  


Kyoko tried to stare Jin down, but the headmaster remained steadfast. Kyoko closed her eyes and turned back to the door.  


“One last thing,” she said over her shoulder. “I saw the empty shelves in your photography room. You must have lost a fortune in equipment when the murderer stole all those cameras.”  


Koichi let out a humorless laugh. “Tell me about it. It’s been a real pain-”  


“Koichi,” Jin snapped.  


Koichi froze. “What?”  


Kyoko turned around. Her cold expression was gone, replaced with a smirk. “Interesting. I thought it was odd that a photography lab wouldn’t have any equipment on its shelves. Thank you for confirming my initial impression, Kizakura.”  


Koichi grimaced. “Aw man. Why does everything have to be a word game with you two?”  


Kyoko continued to think out loud. “Of course, the next question is why would the murderer, Naegi Makoto or otherwise, steal all the equipment from the room? This will require some more digging, I think. Have a good day gentlemen.”  


Kyoko left the headmaster’s office. Jin and Koichi traded a look.  


“This just got more complicated, didn’t it?” Koichi asked.  


Jin sighed.  


“I thought so,” Koichi said. “I’ll be right back. This calls for rum.”

* * *

Kyoko left Hope’s Peak Academy, got back into her car, and turned it on. She pulled out her phone and attached it to a holder on her dashboard. A GPS popped up on the phone’s screen, and Kyoko selected the address labeled _Client_.  


She left the parking lot of the Academy, and drove down the long path back to the city. When she had put some distance between herself and the school, she tapped a button on her steering wheel. “Dial AE,” she said.  


The sound of her phone ringing filled the car. After a moment, the dialing stopped and a genderless, computer generated voice spoke from Kyoko’s speakers. “Hello, Kirigiri. How have you been?”  


Kyoko ignored the pleasantry. “Alter Ego, I need you to look into the social media information of a teacher at Hope’s Peak Academy. A woman by the name of Sato.”  


“Sure thing,” Alter Ego said. “This is for a case, right? Nothing personal?”  


“She was murdered a few days ago,” Kyoko said. “I’ve agreed to look into the details surrounding it.”  


Alter Ego’s voice became downcast. “Oh. That’s...sad. Sometimes I almost wish you would ask me to snoop for non-work related things. Like boyfriend research or something.”  


“Is that what Usami has you do for her?” Kyoko asked.  


“No,” Alter Ego said. “Though I think setting you up with someone would be a little easier than the resident hero of Hope’s Peak.”  


“I see,” Kyoko said. “Have you found anything?”  


“I just started, Kirigiri,” Alter Ego said with a hint of alarm. “I hope you’re not expecting immediate results. Hacking takes time. Also, very illegal. I hope I can find beneficial information for you.”  


“You always do,” Kyoko said. She drove for another minute.  


“Have you found anything?” She asked again.  


“Just got onto her accounts now,” Alter Ego said.  


Kyoko rose an eyebrow. “That was fast.”  


“Fast, not immediate,” Alter Ego said. Their voice was chipper. “But thanks for the compliment.”  


A moment later, their mood dropped again. “This really is sad. A bunch of people are sending her messages about how much they miss her. Some of them are really pouring their hearts out. Saying some deep things.”  


Alter Ego’s voice grew thick, like they were on the verge of crying. “I feel really bad for reading this. Why don’t people be more honest while they have the time? Why do we kill each other when this is what happens?”  


“I would assume the kind of people who commit murder don’t care about the consequences,” Kyoko said. “By any chance, did someone named Naegi Makoto send a message?”  


Alter Ego sniffled. “Let me check. Yup. He wrote a longer one.”  


“Skim it for me,” Kyoko said. “Tell me if he admits to killing her in it.”  


“Okay…” Alter Ego said. They began to paraphrase Makoto’s message.  


“Sorry I didn’t talk much...really happy when you included me...good friend...talented colleague...inspirational photos…” Alter Ego sighed. “It’s a lot of him praising her. He seemed to have a high opinion of Sato. Really appreciated her.”  


Kyoko frowned, then perked up when Alter Ego said “Wait a minute…”  


“Did you find something?” Kyoko asked.  


“He apologized…” Alter Ego said.  


“For what?” Kyoko asked.  


Alter Ego was silent for a few moments. Kyoko took deep breaths and tried to control the impatient taps from her foot that wasn’t on the gas pedal.  


When Alter Ego spoke, they sounded deflated and upset. “He feels guilty for being near but not being able to help her. He’s upset at himself for being so lost in grading papers, he didn’t hear her being attacked. He’s taking the blame for her death.”  


“But he didn’t say he was the attacker?” Kyoko asked.  


“No,” Alter Ego said.  


Kyoko frowned. “Can you comb through the other messages, to see if anyone else professed their guilt?”  


“Sure thing,” Alter Ego said. Their voice went silent again, and Kyoko continued to drive based off the directions her GPS gave her. After fifteen minutes, Alter Ego spoke again.  


“Nothing,” they said.  


Kyoko nodded to herself. “One last thing. Can you look over some of her activity in the days leading up to her death?”  


“Should be able to,” Alter Ego said. A few more minutes passed, with Alter Ego talking to themselves. Kyoko left the business district of Hope’s Peak and entered a residential neighborhood.  


“Done,” Alter Ego said. “Do you want a summary?”  


“Hit me with it,” Kyoko said.  


“It looks pretty normal for the most part,” Alter Ego said. “It didn’t seem like she had a lot of close contacts. Her family, some coworkers, and a amatuer photography group she participated in. The one person she seemed to talk to often is a woman by the name of Koizumi Mahiru.”  


Kyoko narrowed her eyes. “That name sounds familiar.”  


Kyoko heard Alter Ego type at a loud keyboard. “The Internet says she’s a famous photographer. She takes amazing pictures. Her portfolio is full of all kinds of things. Weddings, funerals, personal events, social gatherings. She apparently did a stint abroad and took all kinds of war pictures.”  


“Do we have any reason to suspect she could have done it?” Kyoko asked.  


Alter Ego’s voice went up in pitch. “They were close friends.”  


“And?” Kyoko asked.  


Alter Ego sighed. “Nothing in their last messages show any animosity, and Koizumi has been out of Hope’s Peak for months. It sounds like she’s photographing some fancy event for the Emperor’s birthday right now.”  


Kyoko mulled things over. “We’ll put her at the bottom of the list then. You said Sato’s social media looked normal for the most part. What wasn’t normal?”  


“Most of her personal posts are really detailed,” Alter Ego said. “Basically all of her posts involve photos, and then she talks about what’s in the photo and how it made her feel and how it relates to her life. Then a few days before she...died...the photos stopped. And she got really vague, making a few short messages about how the world felt more dangerous all of a sudden and she didn’t feel safe anywhere.”  


“How did everyone else in her network react?” Kyoko asked.  


“General responses,” Alter Ego said. “People telling her about how great the world is, about how Usami was cleaning the city up, a few super philosophical quotes about light and darkness. The most genuine response seems to be from Koizumi, who sent her a few messa...ges…”  


Alter Ego trailed off. Kyoko tilted her head. “What is it?”  


Alter Ego coughed. “Just...reading.”  


“What is it?” Kyoko asked.  


“I don’t think it’s important to your investigation,” Alter Ego said.  


Kyoko’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll decide that.”  


Alter Ego coughed again. “It’s just...Koizumi’s messages to Sato are really...personal. Like, more-than-friends personal. She says the ‘L’ word.”  


Alter Ego’s voice grew quieter, and more rapid. “But Sato didn’t say it back. And Koizumi seemed apologetic about it. And Sato was all mixed up, but she didn’t outright say no. And they’re both girls. Do you know what that makes Koizumi?”  


“Not heterosexual,” Kyoko said.  


“Precious,” Alter Ego corrected.  


“So how did that conversation end?” Kyoko asked.  


“Uh…” Alter Ego paused. “They kind of awkwardly said goodbye, then the next day Sato messaged Koizumi and told her that talking felt better, and she’d like to get together the next time Koizumi is in town. Koizumi responded with enthusiasm. They agreed on a time. And...that was it. That’s their last messages.”  


Conversation stalled between Alter Ego and Kyoko. Before Kyoko could break it, Alter Ego gasped.  


“What?” Kyoko asked.  


Alter Ego’s voice broke. “It’s Koizumi. She just messaged Sato.”  


Kyoko frowned. “What did she say?”  


“Are you alright,” Alter Ego read.  


Kyoko’s shoulder slumped.  


“She just sent it again,” Alter Ego said. Their voice was raw. “And again.”  


“You can leave Sato’s network,” Kyoko said. “I have enough information for now.”  


“Thank you,” Alter Ego whispered. “If you need any help finding the person that did this, let me know.”  


“I will,” Kyoko said. “Have a good day.”  


“Bye,” Alter Ego said.  


The connection between them was cut. Kyoko’s car became silent, and left the detective alone with her thoughts and the image of someone far away who waited for a response that would never come.

* * *

Kyoko pulled into a parking lot, locked her car up, and walked toward an apartment complex connected to the lot. The building was squat and plain. It appeared identical to two other buildings that shared the parking lot. Ice ran along the top of the building, and small piles of snow had been formed around the edge of the parking lot. The warm glow of the late afternoon sun conflicted with the chilled temperature outside.  


Kyoko walked up to the entrance of the building. The doors were locked, and a keypad was built into the wall next to the door. Kyoko input a three digit code and then pushed a green button at the bottom of the pad. The keypad buzzed, and then a confused voice spoke. “Hello?”  


“Naegi Makoto?” Kyoko asked.  


“Uh...yes, that’s me,” the voice said.  


“My name is Kirigiri Kyoko. I’m a private investigator looking into the situation you’re involved with.”  


Komaru’s voice came through the speaker, fainter than Makoto’s. She sounded incredulous. “What?”  


Makoto spoke again. “How...do you know about...that?”  


“I have my ways,” Kyoko waved away. “There are some questions I have about you that I’d like you to answer.”  


“...Okay,” Makoto mumbled. “I’ll buzz you in-”  


“I’d like to speak alone, and in private,” Kyoko interrupted. “Are you in a position to step outside for some time?”  


Komaru made some strangled noises of anger in the background. The keypad went silent for a minute. When it clicked back on, Makoto sounded less hesitant but more tired. “I’ll be right down. Give me a little bit.”  


“I’ll be waiting by the door,” Kyoko said.  


The keypad went silent again, and Kyoko stepped away from the door. After another minute, Makoto stepped out onto the street. The suspended teacher was dressed in casual clothes, and wore a thick hoodie to protect against the cold. An open cut on his jaw gave away how recent his last shave was, and his hair was unkempt. When he saw Kyoko, in her suit and jacket, with her hair brushed and tied back, he froze.  


Kyoko gave a short bow. “Naegi Makoto. If you would follow me.”  


Makoto gulped. “Sure. Lead the way.”  


Kyoko led Makoto back to her car, and motioned for him to get in. He tried to hide his surprised reaction at the visible damage, but Kyoko noticed his glances.  


“Something on your mind?” Kyoko asked.  


“What?” Makoto said, too fast. “No, nothing.”  


“I recently went through an unfortunate period,” Kyoko said. “There have been a number of expensive purchases and agreements I’ve had to make. Repairing minor damage to my vehicle was low on the list in comparison.”  


Makoto slid into the car. When Kyoko ducked inside and slipped on her seatbelt, he spoke.  


“Bad luck?” He asked. “I’m sorry to hear that. It sounds like you’re getting things sorted out, so that’s good. And I mean, the car looks in great condition too. It’s clean, it smells nice-”  


“Thank you,” Kyoko cut him off, “but I’m not here to discuss the state of my transportation.”  


She turned the car on and pulled out of the spot. They traveled at a slow pace down one row of cars, toward the exit. As they passed a car, it turned on and shot backwards.  


Makoto let out a small scream, while Kyoko pressed down on the gas and her car leapt forward. The car that had almost hit them slid out into the aisle and rocked to a stop. Makoto twisted around to look at them.  


“What the heck was that?” He asked. “They almost rammed us full on. People should know to pay extra attention in winter.”  


“I doubt they care,” Kyoko said. “Look at their bumpers. The amount of dents show they’ve been involved in a few collisions before.”  


Makoto glanced at the front of the other car. “Oh yeah. You picked up on that pretty quick.”  


He turned to face her. “Still, wasn’t it a little dangerous to shoot forward like that? What if another car had tried to back up? I thought it would have been better to brake.”  


“I knew I could make it,” Kyoko said, “and this way we don’t have to wait for the other car to decide where it wants to go. We can continue with our discussion.”  


Makoto looked unconvinced. He leaned against his side door and looked at his apartment complex as they drove by.  


“What did you want to talk about?” Makoto asked.  


Kyoko pulled out onto the street and turned toward the downtown area of Hope’s Peak. “You.”  


Makoto blinked. “Oh...What about?”  


“Let’s start with your alibi,” Kyoko said. “What were you doing at the time of the murder?”  


Makoto swallowed. “Uh, I was in a nearby classroom, grading papers.”  


“A classroom, not the faculty office?” Kyoko questioned.  


Makoto nodded. “Yeah, I’m...not entirely comfortable in the office. If there’s no one around, I just...pick an empty room.”  


Kyoko glanced at him. “Why aren’t you comfortable in the office?”  


Makoto shrugged. “...It just feels weird.”  


“I see,” Kyoko said. “Can anyone else back up your claim that you were grading?”  


“My sister knew I had stayed at work late to do that,” Makoto said. “And a janitor passed by while I was working at one point.”  


“Can either of them swear to being present at the time of the murder?” Kyoko asked.  


Makoto’s head knocked against the window. “...No.”  


Kyoko slowed to a stop, then made a right turn. “What was your relationship to the victim?”  


Makoto flushed a bit. “There wasn’t a ‘relationship’. We just...talked, sometimes. We were the newest people on the team. She helped me adjust to working at the Academy. She was kind of...stern, but also nice.”  


Makoto sighed. Kyoko glanced in her rear-view mirror, then at her passenger.  


“You seem distracted,” she said.  


Makoto straightened up in his seat. “Am I? Oh, sorry.”  


He looked down at his hands. “I’m just...lost. This time last week I was handing out an essay test and giggling at the groans from my students. Now I don’t have a job, a respected coworker is dead, and everything just feels…”  


“...Like the world is against you,” Kyoko finished.  


Makoto nodded. “Yeah. It’s like I saw something I shouldn’t have, and now I have to pay the price.”  


He rubbed his hands together, to warm them and expend some nervous energy. “Am I going to go to jail?”  


Kyoko began to slow again, but the stoplight up ahead turned green, so she drove through the intersection. “Probably.”  


Makoto swallowed. “For how long?”  


“Depends,” Kyoko said. “A good defense lawyer could get you a plea bargain, and you only have to spend the next few decades in prison.”  


Makoto paled.  


“But I doubt you’ll find a good one,” Kyoko continued. “More than likely, even with a plea bargain you’ll be handed a life sentence. There’s a chance they might even hand you the death penalty. It’s rare for someone guilty of a single murder to get, but judges in Hope’s Peak circuits are a little harsher than in other parts of the country.”  


“Death…” Makoto repeated. His eyes were wide, and he had paled further. “What is Komaru going to do?”  


“Does she have other relatives to live with?” Kyoko asked.  


Makoto shook his head. “Our extended family is pretty distant. The most I ever heard was my mom’s family didn’t like my dad and my dad’s family didn’t like my mom. And my parents…”  


His shoulders sagged. Kyoko turned onto a new street. “Was it Monokuma’s riots?”  


Makoto shuddered. “No. Earlier. During Fenrir’s coup.”  


Kyoko paused for a moment.  


“I’m sorry,” she said.  


Makoto tried to smile. “Thanks.”  


“You would have been a teenager at the time,” Kyoko said. “What did you and your sister do?”  


“At first, nothing,” Makoto said. “Like most of the other kids, I had no idea what to do without my parents. If it hadn’t been for the Graduates and their campaigning for us, I think Komaru and I might have been thrown out onto the streets of Hope’s Peak.”  


“The Rising Star Initiative,” Kyoko said. “I remember. The Graduates came through the Academy at the time, offering to help any students who had lost their parents to Fenrir, or just wanted to vent about the stress in their lives. Graduate Delta-Pink was very adamant about acting like a big sister for any of the girls who had been left isolated.”  


Makoto looked at Kyoko. “You went to Hope’s Peak Academy?”  


Kyoko shifted in her seat. “For a time.”  


Makoto thought about it. “Hey, you said your name is Kirigiri. Do you know-”  


“I have no connection to the current headmaster,” Kyoko interrupted.  


She glared at Makoto for a brief moment before she focused on the road again. Makoto flashed another awkward smile.  


“Uh...right…” he coughed. “Speaking of the Graduates, I actually got to shake Alpha-Red’s hand. He was talking to a group of us who were staying at the shelter, trying to inspire us with hope. He said that, as dark as things were, there was always the possibility of a new dawn. He said the best way to defeat Fenrir once and for all was to become the rising stars that brightened tomorrow.”  


Makoto smiled a genuine smile. “He looked at a group of us, a bunch of teens in the middle of mourning, and said we had the strength inside us to turn things around. I know a lot of people in the crowd didn’t want to hear it at the time, but he didn’t care. He climbed up on a table and nearly shouted at us. It left a strong impression. So after he was done and everyone else left, I went up to him. I just wanted to thank him, but I ended up sobbing at his feet.”  


Makoto leaned back in his seat. “He was kind, yet firm. He helped me up from the ground and reminded me I had a sister who was depending on me now. He told me I had to be strong for her. He told me I could be strong enough for both of us. And then he shook my hand and wished me all the luck.”  


Makoto’s voice grew rougher as he did an impersonation. “Not that you’ll need it, kid. You’ve got good eyes.”  


He relaxed. “He really had faith in all of us. I walked away thinking about how cool it would be to help other people find strength in themselves.”  


“Is that why you became a teacher?” Kyoko asked.  


Makoto nodded. “With the Rising Star Initiative, I got a job as a bus boy at a restaurant. I did that after school through my second and third years of high school, then I got promoted to waiter and did that while I went through college. It was tough, but Komaru and I figured out how to make it work. She got a job through the Initiative, and then about a year later we were able to get off the program and start leading independent lives again.”  


“Was that when you were hired by Hope’s Peak?” Kyoko asked.  


“A little after that, yeah,” Makoto said. “Kizakura showed up in one of my classes, observed for an hour, then pulled the professor aside. After class, they both came to talk to me. I worked as a student teacher for a few months, then Headmaster Kirigiri asked if I wanted to stay there permanently. It was weird.”  


“I think you are one of the first teachers to be hired before they finish their degree,” Kyoko said. “Especially for a place as prestigious as Hope’s Peak Academy.”  


“But Kizakura is like that,” Makoto said. “He just randomly decides to try something new or do something different, and it always works out.”  


Makoto faltered. “Well...almost always, I guess…”  


He looked around. “We’ve been driving for a while. Do you have a place in mind?”  


“I did,” Kyoko said, “but things have changed.”  


Makoto’s brow furrowed. “What changed?”  


Kyoko glanced in her rear-view mirror again. “I suppose you haven’t noticed. Try to look behind us discretely.”  


Makoto used his seat as cover and peered behind them.  


“Look two cars back,” Kyoko ordered.  


Makoto caught a glimpse at the car in question. It was the one that had almost hit them in the parking lot, with the dents in the bumper.  


“This whole time, they’ve mimicked every move we’ve made,” Kyoko said.  


“What...w-what does that mean?” Makoto stuttered.  


Kyoko kept her voice even, while she made another turn and drove toward a public garage. “It means they’re following us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got irrationally angry at Komaru, trying to describe her hair style. I'm so bad at hair. 
> 
> Because of life, I had to write this chapter in like three sessions, and then edited it for a grand total of maybe two hours. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it turned out well.
> 
> Also I've started cross posting the earlier chapters to ff.net. In case some of you are interested.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and if you like drop some comments, kudos, subscriptions, and the rest. Have a good day!


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